LEADER OF THE HOUSE

Parliament Square

Greg Knight: To ask the Leader of the House if he will ensure that the interests of right hon. and hon. Members are taken into account before any change in (a) traffic flows and (b) accessibility takes place in or near Parliament Square.

Peter Hain: If proposals are made which affect access to the Palace of Westminster, I shall certainly make sure that the views of Members are represented.

PRIME MINISTER

Allocation of Time

Norman Baker: To ask the Prime Minister what he estimates the relative ratio of time spent by him on (a) climate change and (b) terrorism-related issues was in the last 12 months.

Tony Blair: I spend my time on a wide range of domestic and international issues, including climate change and terrorism.

Gibraltar

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Prime Minister how many times he has spoken to the Chief Minister of Gibraltar over the past 12 months; and what the main issues discussed were.

Tony Blair: I have not spoken with the Chief Minister for Gibraltar recently. However, my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary, met with the Chief Minister during his visit to London between 25 and 27 May this year.

Kyoto

Norman Baker: To ask the Prime Minister whether it remains UK Government policy to seek to persuade the US Government to ratify the Kyoto Protocol.

Tony Blair: I refer the hon. Member, to the answers I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Norwich North (Dr. Gibson) during my evidence to the Liaison Committee on 6 July.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Aarhus Convention

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on how the civil justice system in England meets the requirements of Article 9(4) of the Aarhus Convention that contracting parties must provide review procedures with adequate and effective remedies, including injunctive relief as appropriate.

Elliot Morley: The requirements of Article 9(4) of the Convention are reflected in the civil justice system of England and Wales, and in particular the current law governing standing to seek judicial review of administrative action in environmental cases, where adequate and effective remedies, including injunctive relief in appropriate cases, are available.

Pennington Point, Sidmouth

Hugo Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent discussions she has had with officials concerning increasing the funding available for work to Pennington Point in Sidmouth.

Elliot Morley: The Government are committed to the maintenance and improvement of necessary flood and coastal defences. Total Government funding on flood and coastal defence is projected to rise to £550 million in 2005–06. There have been no recent discussions with officials concerning increasing the funding available for work to Pennington Point in Sidmouth.
	I understand that East Devon district council plan to undertake a protection scheme at Pennington Point/Salcombe Hill but that no formal application has yet been made for approval under the Coast Protection Act 1949 as planning permission is still to be granted . To qualify for Defra grant aid, proposals must meet essential criteria and achieve the relevant "priority score".

Radon (Cornwall)

Candy Atherton: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  what discussions (a) she and (b) her Department have had with Kerrier district council regarding radon levels in the council's area;
	(2)  what plans she has to tackle the effects of radon in the Kerrier district council area of Cornwall.

Elliot Morley: Neither I nor the Secretary of State have had discussions with Kerrier district council regarding radon levels in the council's area. However, Department officials met with council representatives on 4 July 2003 to discuss the development of a local action plan to roll out Defra's radon programme in its district. Representatives from the National Radiological Protection Board (NRPB) and the Building Research Establishment (BRE) attended that meeting as the organisations engaged by the Department to support the council on implementing the action plan. I wrote to my hon. Friend on 12 September 2003 about the commencement of the plan, and members of the Department, NRPB and BRE have been working closely with Kerrier district council to help to deliver the action plan since then.
	Kerrier district council's main actions, supported by the Defra programme, are designed to raise awareness about radon and, in particular, to encourage remedial action in the community. These have included the offer of free radon tests and retests sent to over 31,000 householders living in homes with a greater than 5 per cent. probability of radon levels being at or above the 'Action Level' of 200 becquerels per cubic metre of air (Bq m - 3 ). The council is using a mobile exhibition to visit communities in the district in order to raise awareness and offer advice about radon—its health effects and remedial measures. Familiarisation seminars have also been held specifically for council staff, professionals in the housing sector, and local builders and builders merchants. In addition, a series of advice workshops have been run for householders needing to take action to reduce radon levels, to provide advice and guidance on the type of radon remediation that might be most appropriate for their homes. Both NRPB and BRE have been closely involved in helping the council to carry out these actions.
	I am aware of the dwellings in Kerrier recently discovered, through Defra's programme, to have very high radon levels. The Department, Kerrier district council, NRPB and BRE have been liaising to ensure that the owners of these properties have full access to the support available under Defra's programme, enabling prompt action to be taken to remedy the problem.
	Once all the results from the radon tests are available, officials will consider the need for another meeting with Kerrier district council, NRPB and BRE to review the work that has been undertaken so far and discuss what further action might reasonably be taken in the light of the results that have been obtained.

Agricultural Subsidy

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the maximum agricultural subsidy paid to one farming concern was in 2003–04.

Alun Michael: The Rural Payments Agency is unable to release individual payment details. However, it can confirm that during the 2002–03 European Agriculture Guidance and Guarantee Fund year 1 , the most recent year for which figures are available, 11 farming concerns each received total subsidy payments in excess of one million pounds.
	1 16 October 2002 to 15 October 2003.

Air Transport White Paper

Joan Ruddock: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the implications for her Department of the Sustainable Development Commission's report on the Air Transport White Paper.

Elliot Morley: The Sustainable Development Commission acts as a critical friend to Government in appraising their performance in delivering sustainable development. Its report on the Government's Air Transport White Paper is a useful contribution to the debate about aviation's role in a sustainable society, and we will consider it carefully with the Department for Transport.
	Both the Energy and Air Transport White Papers recognise that the aviation industry must take action to take account of, and where appropriate reduce, its climate change impacts. The Government are open to dialogue with the Commission, along with other stakeholders, on the methods to achieve that.

Business Grants (Rural Areas)

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what total grants (a) are available for and (b) have been claimed by businesses in rural areas in each year since 2001, what the grants were for; and whether they were from (i) UK and (ii) EU sources.

Alun Michael: This information is not available in the requested format. Business support grants are usually open to all businesses that meet the criteria of the scheme whether they be rural or urban. The data on the take-up of the generic business support grants are not broken down into rural and urban. Information on grant schemes run by Defra is available in the Department's annual reports, on its website, and in other publications.

Commercial Orchards

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many commercial orchards there were in Lancashire in each of the last five years, broken down by type; and what quantity of fruit they produced in each year.

Alun Michael: Data on the area of commercial orchards grown are collected in the annual June Census of Agricultural and Horticulture, which is available in the House of Commons Library. The provisional results for the England 2004 June Census will be published on 16 September 2004. As a small number of holdings in Lancashire have commercial orchards, we cannot publish figures for Lancashire as it would lead to disclosure of information about specific holdings.

Correspondence

James Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when she will reply to the letters from the hon. Member for North Wiltshire of 29 March and 4 May on behalf of Chew Valley Hide and Skin Company.

Alun Michael: The Department has no record of receiving any letters from the hon. Member dated 29 March. A reply to the letter of 4 May will be sent to the hon. Member shortly.

Environment Agency

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many applications for judicial review against the Environment Agency were given leave to appeal to the House of Lords in each year between 1997 and 2003 by (a) individuals, (b) non-governmental organisations and (c) corporate entities.

Elliot Morley: None.

Environment Agency

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many applications for judicial review against the Environment Agency were given leave to appeal to the Court of Appeal in each year between 1997 and 2003 by (a) individuals, (b) non-governmental organisations and (c) corporate entities.

Elliot Morley: No such applications were given leave to appeal to the Court of Appeal between 1997 and 2000 or in 2003.
	In 2001 the application of only one individual was given leave to appeal to the Court of Appeal. No other such applications were given leave to appeal.
	In 2002 the application of only one corporate entity was given leave to appeal to the Court of Appeal. No other such applications were given leave to appeal.

Environment Agency

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many applications for judicial review against the Environment Agency were granted permission to proceed in the High Court in each year between 1997 and 2003 by (a) individuals, (b) non-governmental organisations and (c) corporate entities.

Elliot Morley: The following table lists the number of such applications that were granted permission to proceed to the High Court, in the categories requested:
	
		
			 Applications made by 1997 2000 2001 2002 2003 
		
		
			 Individuals 0 1 3 3 0 
			 Non-governmental organisations 1 0 0 0 1 
			 Corporate entities 1 5 1 2 1 
		
	
	No such applications were made to the High Court in 1998 or 1999.

Environment Agency

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many applications for judicial review made against the Environment Agency in the High Court in each year between 1997 and 2003 (a) were successful and (b) resulted in an order for costs being made against the Environment Agency; and what costs were awarded in each case.

Elliot Morley: The following table lists the number of such applications that were made between 1997 and 2003 that were successful, and gives details of any costs awarded in each case:
	
		
			 Applications 1997 2000 2001 2002 2003 
		
		
			 Number of successful cases 1 1 0 1 1 
			 Costs awarded (1)— £50,000 — £25,000 £21,000 
		
	
	(1) No costs order made
	No such applications were made to the High Court in 1998 or 1999.

Environment Agency

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many judicial reviews brought against the Environment Agency between 1997 and 2003 in the High Court (a) were unsuccessful and (b) resulted in an order for costs being made against the applicant; and what costs were awarded in each case.

Elliot Morley: The following table lists the number of such cases brought between 1997 and 2003 that were unsuccessful, and details any resulting order for costs that were made against the applicant in each case.
	
		
			 Applications 1997 2000 2001 2002 2003 
		
		
			 Number of unsuccessful cases 1 5 4 2 1 
			 Costs awarded (£) Costs unknown (i) No costs (i) No costs (i) No costs 10,000 
			   (ii) No costs (ii) No costs (ii) 58,000  
			   (iii) 43,000 (iii) 32,000   
			   (iv) 25,723 (iv) 115,000   
			   (v) 48,000
		
	
	No such applications were made to the High Court in 1998 or 1999.

Environment Agency

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many applications for judicial review made against the Environment Agency in the House of Lords in each year between 1997 and 2003 (a) were successful and (b) resulted in an order for costs being made against the Environment Agency; and what costs were awarded in each case.

Elliot Morley: None.

Environment Agency

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many applications for judicial review made against the Environment Agency in the Court of Appeal in each year between 1997 and 2003 (a) were successful and (b) resulted in an order for costs being made against the Environment Agency; and what costs were awarded in each case.

Elliot Morley: There was one such application that was successful in 2002. £25,000 costs were awarded in this case.
	There were no other such applications that were successful between 1997 and 2003.

Environment Agency

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many judicial reviews brought against the Environment Agency between 1997 and 2003 in the House of Lords (a) were unsuccessful and (b) resulted in an order for costs being made against the applicant; and what costs were awarded in each case.

Elliot Morley: None.

Environment Agency

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many applications for judicial review were made against the Environment Agency in the High Court in each year between 1997 and 2003 by (a) individuals, (b) non-governmental organisations and (c) corporate entities.

Elliot Morley: The following table lists the number of such applications that were made between 1997 and 2003, in the categories requested.
	
		
			 Applications made by 1997 2000 2001 2002 2003 
		
		
			 Individuals 0 1 3 4 2 
			 Non-governmental organisations 0 0 0 0 1 
			 Corporate entities 2 8 1 4 1 
		
	
	No such applications were made to the High Court in 1998 or 1999.

Chicken Farms

John Whittingdale: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what additional requirements will be imposed on chicken farms by integrated pollution prevention and control requirements which are not covered by (a) an assured chicken production scheme and (b) best available techniques.

Elliot Morley: The Environment Agency does not anticipate that there will be many chicken farms that will be required to go beyond the Assured Chicken Production scheme (ACP) and Best Available Techniques (BAT). Many of the BAT for the sector has been adopted by the ACP, but the latter does not embrace all of the former. Only where a significantly higher level of environmental protection is required would techniques which go beyond BAT be necessary. Furthermore, it would first have to be demonstrated that those techniques could achieve the required level of protection. Greater environmental protection might be necessary in the case of a farm which is located close to a Special Protected Area of a Special Area of Conservation.

International Renewable Energy Conference

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the outcome of the International Renewable Energy Conference held in Bonn from 1 to 4 June.

Elliot Morley: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State led the UK delegation to the Bonn Renewables Conference, which was attended by over 3,000 delegates, from 154 countries, whom of around 60 were Ministers. My hon. Friend the Minister for Energy, E-commerce and Postal Services also attended. The Prime Minister made a pre-recorded video address to the opening session of the ministerial segment of the Conference.
	Overall, the Conference successfully built on the commitments made at the World Summit on Sustainable Development at Johannesburg and heightened international attention on the crucial role of renewable energy in addressing climate change and providing access to energy in the developing world.
	The Conference had three key outcomes: a Political Declaration, a set of Policy Recommendations and an International Action Programme.
	The Political Declaration adopted by acclamation at the close of the Conference sets out common political objectives for promoting the role of renewable energies. Reflecting the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation, the Declaration restates the importance of the multi-lateral process to promote both renewables and energy efficiency.
	The Policy Recommendations for Renewable Energies offers a menu of practical advice on how to develop policies to promote the development of the market for renewable energies in both the developing and developed worlds.
	The International Action Programme is a collection of, to date, over 160 voluntary commitments on the part of governments, business, NGOs and other stakeholders to concrete action to deliver increased use of renewable energy. The UK submitted a series of actions to the programme, including the extension of the renewables obligation to 2015, renewable obligation certificates, the European Marine Energy Test Centre, round two of the off-shore wind farm development and the Energy Efficiency Action Plan. As one of the founders of the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership (REEEP), we also submitted the REEEP Future Work Programme as an important contribution to the Action Programme.
	The full text of all three documents can be found at: www.renewables2004.de
	The adoption of an effective framework to follow up these outcomes and ensure that the commitments made in the International Action Programme are delivered will be crucial. The Political Declaration envisages "an appropriate arrangement" for measuring progress and the establishment of a multi-stakeholder "global policy network", taking into account the work already being undertaken by existing partnerships in order to promote a sharing of experience in the development and application of renewable energy.
	The Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership launched last year by the Secretaries of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and Trade and Industry will have a key role to play in this Policy Network. The Partnership, with partners from governments, business, finance and civil society across the globe, aims to share knowledge and experience in order to spread best practice and overcome barriers to the development of renewable energy and energy efficiency. The Partnership has grown considerably over the last year and generated a considerable amount of interest at Bonn, with the Governments of Senegal, Yemen and Australia all signing up as Partners at, or shortly after, the Conference.

Ivory

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what her policy is on the proposed ivory stockpile sales from (a) South Africa, (b) Botswana and (c) Namibia.

Elliot Morley: The Government will continue to insist that the very strict conditions governing the proposed one-off sales of ivory are met in full before any trade is allowed to proceed. In particular we want to be assured that the potential importing country/countries are able to regulate effectively their domestic ivory markets and that the one-off sales will not lead to an upsurge in poaching.

Landfill

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps she is taking to minimise the amount of surplus food that is sent by supermarkets for disposal in landfill sites; and what her latest estimate is of the volume of food sent by supermarkets for (a) disposal in landfill sites and (b) incineration.

Elliot Morley: The Government are working with the food and drink industry to produce a joint strategy to improve the industry's economic, environmental and social performance. The new strategy will tackle waste as one of its issues together with litter, food miles, transport and energy use.
	As well as the strategy the Government, through the waste minimisation programme being run by the Waste and Resources Action Programme, are working with retailers to reduce waste through better design of products.
	We do not hold estimates on the volume of surplus food sent by supermarkets for disposal in landfill sites, incineration or other permitted disposal routes.

Landfill

Richard Ottaway: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment (a) she and (b) the Environment Agency has made of the (i) impact and (ii) financial impact of its draft guidance on (A) monitoring landfill gas engine emissions, (B) the management of landfill gas, (C) monitoring trace components in landfill gas and (D) gas treatment technologies for landfill gas engines on generating renewable energy from landfill gas; and what assessment has been made of the impact of each on (1) the financial viability of operating a landfill site and (2) small and medium enterprises generating renewable energy from landfill gas.

Elliot Morley: The Environment Agency commissioned an independent impact assessment of costs and benefits associated with the introduction of its landfill gas guidance. The impact assessment was developed with input from the landfill industry and has been published on the Environment Agency's website at
	www.environment-agency.gov.uk
	The impact assessment demonstrated that the environmental benefits outweigh the costs, even when conservative assumptions were made on potential environmental benefits. The Landfill Directive requires that the full cost of landfilling be provided for within gate fees, and the Agency has publicly stated on a number of occasions that the cost of landfill needs to increase to reflect the real costs. Implementation of the Agency's landfill gas guidance will necessarily form part of these costs.
	The Agency holds regular liaison meetings with the relevant trade associations specifically to keep under review the implementation and consequences of its landfill gas guidance. This liaison group has agreed to review the guidance formally, two years after the date of issue: this will provide a timely opportunity to verify the predictions contained in the impact assessment.

Landfill

Richard Ottaway: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when the Environment Agency will publish its final guidance on (a) monitoring landfill gas engine emissions, (b) the management of landfill gas, (c) monitoring trace components in landfill gas and (d) gas treatment technologies for landfill gas engines.

Elliot Morley: I understand that the Environment Agency intends to publish these four guidance documents in August this year.

Nitrogen Dioxide Target

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when her Department plans to reach the 40 micrograms per cubic metre target set out in the 2003 Air Quality Strategy for the yearly average amount of nitrogen dioxide in the air.

Elliot Morley: holding answer 1 July 2004
	Our current assessment is that most areas in England will meet the Air Quality Strategy objective for nitrogen dioxide of 40 micrograms per cubic metre annual mean by the target date of 31 December 2005. We are looking at possible further measures as part of the current reviews of the Air Quality Strategy, the 10-Year Plan for Transport and Climate Change Programme.

Pharmaceutical Industry

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  if she will take steps to ensure that the pharmaceutical industry implements the Environment Agency's recommendation to review its products with reference to low level residues that are likely to cause harm to the aquatic environment and human health;
	(2)  if she will take steps to ensure that the pharmaceutical industry implements the Environment Agency's recommendation to demonstrate that low level pharmaceutical residues are unlikely to cause harm to the aquatic environment and human health.

Alun Michael: The Environment Agency's position statement on human pharmaceuticals includes a number of actions for the pharmaceutical industry, including work to determine if exposures to low levels of pharmaceuticals over long periods of time are having an impact on aquatic life. These actions are being pursued through constructive dialogue between the agency and the industry and the intended development of an industry led work programme.

Pharmaceutical Industry

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps she is taking to determine the (a) levels of fluoxetine and norfluoxetine residues in UK aquatic environments and (b) impact on the environment and human health.

Alun Michael: During 2002–03 the Environment Agency carried out a desk-based ranking exercise on the 500 pharmaceuticals most commonly used in England and Wales in order to rank them in terms of environmental significance. This exercise included fluoxetine. Norfluoxtine was not included as it is a breakdown product of fluoxetine and the study concentrated only on parent compounds. A short-targeted monitoring programme was then set up for 12 pharmaceuticals. Fluoxetine was not included within the programme because it was established that no analytical method suitable for use on environmental samples existed and that development of one would be difficult.
	The Environment Agency's position statement on human pharmaceuticals includes a number of actions for the pharmaceutical industry including an action on the pharmaceutical industry to do more on the analytical methods for environmental monitoring. These actions are being pursued through constructive dialogue between the Agency and the industry and the intended development of an industry-led work programme.

Radioactive Water Vapour

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps her Department will take to ensure that the incident of radioactive water vapour emitted into the atmosphere on 9 June at Hartlepool Nuclear Power Station does not harm the environment.

Elliot Morley: holding answer 29 June 2004
	A small, unplanned release of radioactivity from the Hartlepool Nuclear Power Station occurred on 9 June as a result of a leak from a pump. It is not expected that the annual limits for this site for the radionuclides involved will be breached as a result of this incident. The Environment Agency has kept the releases to the environment under close review and an initial assessment indicates that the environmental impact has not been significant. The Environment Agency and the Health and Safety Executive are continuing to investigate the cause of the incident and are considering what further action, if any, may be necessary.

Recycling

Richard Ottaway: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will publish the latest figures on recycling referred to by the Minister of State for the Environment on Newsnight on Tuesday 15 June.

Elliot Morley: The figures referred to were the initial results of the Municipal Waste Management Survey 2002–03 which were published on the Defra website on 28 April 2004. These are the latest figures on recycling and composting performance in England, and can be accessed through the following link:
	http://defraweb/news/2004/040429a.htm
	Full results from the Municipal Waste Management Survey 2002–03 will be published at the end of July 2004.

Rural Housing

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the recent Countryside Agency report on homelessness in rural areas, with particular reference to discussions she has had with the Deputy Prime Minister on steps to increase the supply of (a) affordable and (b) social housing.

Alun Michael: The Government have welcomed the Countryside Agency report showing that for many, rural England is a good place to live and giving useful pointers on the scale of rural housing need. The State of the Countryside Report has contributed greatly to our understanding of rural areas in England.
	I have had a number of meetings with my ministerial colleagues in the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister on the issue of rural housing. In recent months we have also taken part in open discussions including the Rural Affairs Forum for England, regional conferences on housing, a seminar organised by the Rural Group of Labour MPs and the Labour Party Spring Conference.
	The Housing Corporation's rural target is to provide 3,500 affordable homes over 2004–06 in settlements below 3,000 people. This follows the Rural White Paper commitment to approve 1,600 homes in small settlements by 2003–04—double that in 2000–01.
	In 2002–03, the Housing Corporation approved spending on 1,579 homes in small rural settlements (exceeding their target of 1,300) with local authorities funding 515 homes. In 2003–04 the Housing Corporation and local authorities approved a further 4,988 homes in larger rural areas and market towns.
	We are also improving the ways in which homelessness is prevented and have provided rural authorities with over £4 million in each of the last three years to support homelessness prevention strategies.

Waste Management

Alan Meale: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  what action the Government are taking in developing waste to energy schemes in the UK;
	(2)  what the Government's policy is on the usage of gasification techniques to convert waste into energy.
	(3)  what plans she has to make a distinction in regulation between older technologies used for incineration of waste and newer, more environmentally friendly alternatives, with particular reference to (a) gasification and (b) pyrolysis.

Elliot Morley: The Government have no plans for any number of energy from waste facilities to be built. The choice of waste management options is a matter for individual Local Authorities to decide according to their local circumstances and needs as set out in their Waste Local Plans and waste management strategies.
	We are aware of the new processes that are becoming available, such as pyrolysis, gasification and anaerobic digestion and the potential benefits for the environment and human health. Defra's Waste Implementation Programme is directing some of its funding to developing demonstration units in this country for a range of new technologies, which may include energy recovery processes.
	Meanwhile the processes named above do qualify as eligible renewable sources for the purposes of the Renewable Obligation Order 2002.
	The regulation of waste management processes is the responsibility of the Environment Agency. Processes involving the thermal treatment of wastes for the production of energy are regulated under the recently adopted Directive 2000/76/EC on the Incineration of Waste. Pyrolysis and gasification involving the production of energy are specifically included within the scope of this Directive and there is no latitude to differentiate between technologies.

Waste Management

Alan Meale: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether environmental legislation treats incineration in the UK in the same way as more environmentally friendly chemical and thermo processes of (a) gasification and (b) pyrolysis.

Elliot Morley: Directive 2000/76/EC on the incineration of waste applies to incineration plant new or substantially changed since 28 December 2002, and to pre-existing incineration plant from 28 December 2005. The Directive has been transposed into UK law by Regulations and Directions.
	"Incineration plant" in the Directive and hence the UK transposition of it means
	'any stationary or mobile technical unit and equipment dedicated to the thermal treatment of wastes with or without recovery of the combustion heat generated. This includes the incineration by oxidation of waste as well as other thermal treatment processes such as pyrolysis, gasification or plasma processes in so far as the substances resulting from the treatment are subsequently incinerated'

WALES

Dentistry

Hugo Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what recent discussions he has had with National Assembly for Wales Secretaries on funding for dentistry in Wales.

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what discussions he has had since 9 June with National Assembly for Wales Secretaries on funding for dentistry in Wales.

Don Touhig: I discussed dentistry in Wales with the Assembly Health Minister on 16 June, at one of our regular bilateral meetings.

Departmental Websites

Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what the total cost of his Department's websites was in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Don Touhig: Service provision for the Wales Office website for the year beginning 1 September 2003 cost a total of £5,000—costing £1,000 for provision of hardware and service, £1,000 for provision of connectivity and £3,000 for provision of service support.

Empty Houses

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales for how many empty houses his Department is responsible; and if he will make a statement.

Don Touhig: None.

Milford Haven

Lembit �pik: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what assessment his Department has made of the impact of the proposals by Petroplus to upgrade the liquefied natural gas handling facility at Milford Haven on the wider Haven area, in terms of (a) commercial and (b) private development; and if he will make a statement.

Don Touhig: The Wales Office has no role in the assessment of such projects. Economic, social and environmental impacts will have been considered during planning process.

Ministerial Visits

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the travel costs incurred by (a) his Department and its predecessors and (b) each Minister within his Department, for each of the last 10 years.

Don Touhig: In respect of overseas travel by Ministers, since 1999 the Government have published an annual list of all visits overseas undertaken by Cabinet Ministers costing 500 or more during each financial year. The Government have also published on an annual basis the cost of all Ministers' visits overseas. Copies of the lists are available in the Libraries of the House. These report information reaching back to 199596. Information for earlier years could be obtained only at disproportionate cost and in some cases will no longer be held. Information for 200304 will be published in due course.
	My hon. Friend the Minister for the Cabinet Office has asked Nick Matheson, Chief Executive of the Government Car and Despatch Agency to write to the right hon. Member with details of the cost of ministerial vehicles provided to this Department.
	The Wales Office was established on 1 July 1999, and I refer the right hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Arundel and South Downs (Mr. Flight) on 17 November 2003, Official Report, column 478, for prior year information on travel costs.
	Excluding the costs of overseas visits and the Government Car Service, which are detailed elsewhere, the estimated travel costs incurred by the Wales Office in 2003, for both Ministers and officials, were 125,085.
	Information relating to individual Ministers for this period is not available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. All ministerial travel is undertaken in accordance with the rules set out in the Ministerial Code and Travel by Ministers, copies of which are available in the Libraries of the House.

NHS Funding

Angela Watkinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what recent discussions he has had with the National Assembly for Wales Secretaries on the effects of funding for the NHS in Wales on reducing waiting times.

Peter Hain: I regularly meet the Assembly First Minister and the health service in Wales is one of the topics that we frequently discuss.

Outdoor Activity Industry (Safety)

Alistair Burt: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales when he last met the Health and Safety Executive to discuss safety in the outdoor activity industry in Wales.

Don Touhig: My right hon. Friend and I have regular discussions with a range of Government agencies. Although we have not recently met the Health and Safety Executive to discuss this issue, I do recognise the important role HSE plays in promoting best practice and educating the outdoor activities sector on health and safety matters.

Policing

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what recent discussions he has had with the First Secretary of the National Assembly for Wales on the devolution to the Assembly of further powers with regard to policing.

Peter Hain: The Government have no plans to devolve policing powers to the National Assembly.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Fire Brigades Union

David Drew: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister when he last met the executive or representatives of the Fire Brigades Union.

Phil Hope: My right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister last met representatives of the Fire Brigades Union executive on 20 March 2003.

Housing

Edward Davey: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how much central Government funding has been (a) budgeted for and (b) spent on housing in each financial year since 19992000.

Keith Hill: Central Government provides capital support for housing expenditure by local authorities and registered social landlords. Data on the total amounts spent and the mainstream funding made available by central Government since 1999/2000 are set out as follows. Funding for day-to-day costs of providing housing are largely met from rents and are not included in the figures.
	
		Capital ( million)
		
			  Local authorities(2) RSLs 
			  Spend2, 3 CG funds Spend CG funds 
		
		
			 19992000 2,418 1,405 966 1,127 
			 200001 2,778 2,103 1,117 1,142 
			 200102 3,129 2,569 1,186 1,320 
			 200203 3,425 2,671 1,486 1,565 
			 200304 (RSL provisional) 3,760 2,719 2,013 2,006 
			 200405 (LA estimate) 3,723 2,891   
		
	
	(2) Covers capital funding provided through housing annual capital guidelines, the Major Repairs Allowance (from 200102), the Capital Receipts Initiative (19992000 only), the Arms Length Management Initiative and for Disabled Facilities grants.
	(3) The local authorities spend figure is for total spend (i.e. from local authorities own resources and central Government funding). We only collect data in this format and are unable to disaggregate the two.
	(4) ACG/SCER is not ring fenced so local authorities are free to spend this resource on any capital project.

Housing

Helen Southworth: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will take steps to increase the provision of affordable housing in locations where housing prices are high in the north-west.

Keith Hill: Identifying land for affordable housing is a task for local authorities, which are best placed to assess local needs. Government's advice to local authorities on this issue is currently under review.

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

Civil Service Relocation

Michael Fabricant: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many civil servants and what percentage of the total Civil Service workforce in her Department will be relocated over the next five years (a) outside the M25, (b) to the West Midlands and (c) to Staffordshire.

Patricia Hewitt: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given by the Chief Secretary to the Treasury on 22 June 2004, Official Report, columns 129293W.

Corporate Identity Theft

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what measures she is planning to introduce to calculate the costs to UK (a) companies and (b) consumers of corporate identity theft.

Jacqui Smith: No measures are currently planned to calculate the costs to UK companies or consumers of corporate identity theft.

Home Working

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry 
	(1)  when the Government intend to ratify the International Labour Organisation document on homework;
	(2)  what action is being taken to ensure that home workers have access to the same statutory rights as other employees.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The Government are keen to ensure all workers, including home workers, have appropriate rights and protections. We have introduced new legislation for fair piece rates for home workers, to take effect this October, thereby addressing problems over access to the national minimum wage; and the Working Time Regulations apply to all workers. The Employment Relations Bill also contains provisions extending the coverage of trade union rights to all workers. More broadly, the Government are aware that some home workers are not aware of employment rights they already enjoy, and we are providing funding to the National Group on Home Working, to help to raise awareness among home workers of their rights, and support and advise them in asserting their rights. The measures that we have already taken bring the UK closer to the equal treatment principles articulated in the ILO Convention on Home Work.

Internal Market for Electricity Directive

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when she expects to comply with Article 23/47 of the European Directive on the Internal Market for Electricity Directive 2003/56/EC.

Jacqui Smith: The Department is of the view that Great Britain already complies with Articles 23(4) and 23(7), but is currently considering what further measures are required to implement Articles 23(5) and 23(6), with which we are currently partially compliant.
	The Department published a consultation document on compliance with the whole Directive on 9 February 2004, and in the light of responses received we will issue a second consultation document in mid-July that will set out how we intend to ensure full compliance with Articles 23(5) and 23(6). Once we have considered the responses, we will then make any necessary changes to current arrangements. We estimate that we will be in full compliance in October.
	Respondents to our first consultation document also requested clarification of how Great Britain complied with Article 23(4). We will provide this in our second consultation document.

Miners' Compensation

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when the Department agreed that third parties could charge claimants additionally to the sums paid out to them by her Department under the coal claims handling agreement; and if she will place correspondence in the Library.

Nigel Griffiths: I am advised that at no time has the Department agreed that third parties can charge additional sums.

National Minimum Wage

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry 
	(1)  if she will make a statement on what sanctions there are to deal with employers found to be paying below the national minimum wage;
	(2)  if she will impose fines on employers found to be paying below the national minimum wage.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The great majority (around 95 per cent.) of minimum wage cases are solved at present without the need for any formal enforcement action. In tackling the minority (5 per cent.) of more difficult cases, compliance officers may first serve an enforcement notice which requires the employer to start paying the minimum wage and make good any arrears of pay. In most of these cases, the employer then pays the arrears due. But in the small number of cases where an employer ignores the enforcement notice, the officer may then serve a penalty notice. The penalty notice imposes a financial penalty on the employer of twice the adult rate of the minimum wage (currently 9 per hour) for each worker named in the enforcement notice from when it was issued.
	Refusal or wilful neglect to pay the minimum wage is a criminal offence, with fines of up to a maximum of 5,000 for each offence.

National Minimum Wage

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps are being taken to protect home workers from being paid below the national minimum wage.

Gerry Sutcliffe: In March 2004 the Government introduced the National Minimum Wage Regulations 1999 (Amendment) Regulations 2004. These Regulations come into effect in October 2004 and require employers to pay all output workers, including home workers, the minimum wage for every hour they work, or pay a fair piece rate that allows an average worker to earn the minimum wage. From April 2005 employers will have to increase the fair piece rate by a factor of 1.2, so at that point an average output worker will be able to earn 120 per cent. of the minimum wage.
	We believe the new system will be more easily understoodhelping employers to be clear what they must pay and home workers to understand and claim their right to the minimum wage.

Small Business Service

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much the Small Business Service has so far spent on its new website.

Nigel Griffiths: The new Businesslink.gov customer-facing website recently launched by the Small Business Service is an integral part of the cross-departmental Business.gov programme. The total cost in 200304 on the full development of this programme including the Businesslink.gov portal was 14.2 million.

State Aid Programme

Dave Watts: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on the future of the State Aid Programme.

Jacqui Smith: The EU state aid rules are intended to prevent payments that unduly distort competition in the Single Market. The Government support an effective state aid regime and are committed to the conclusions agreed at the Lisbon and Barcelona European Councils for less and better-targeted state aid. An effective state aid regime helps create a level playing field for business across the EU. And greater competition between businesses leads to lower prices for consumers.
	At the same time it is important that the Government can pursue their objectives of creating a business-friendly environment, raising skills levels and enhancing our science and technology base, so that we improve prosperity in all regions of the UK. While many business support measures do not constitute state aid at all, it is important that the state aid regime is sufficiently flexible to enable us to support economic development by tackling the causes of economic under-performance.
	The Government are therefore pursuing a broad state aid reform agenda. This includes, for example, encouraging the Commission to reform their procedures so that less distorting aids, intended to correct market failures and economic underperformance, can be granted more simply. The Commission's new proposals for a fast track approval route for aid which has a limited effect on the market derives directly from pressure applied by the UK for a more modernised and flexible state aid system. Many of the instruments under which State aid may be approved are due to be reassessed and, if necessary, revised by the European Commission over the next three years (e.g. the horizontal rules on aid for SMEs, Research and Development, risk and venture capital, environmental protection, training and employment creation) and the Government will be ensuring that the UK's views are taken into account by the Commission.
	In particular, the European Commission has recently issued proposals to amend the guidelines governing regional aid (which define assisted areas and aid intensities allowed within them) after 2006. I made a statement to the House on the Commission's proposals for regional aid reform on 14 June 2004, Official Report, columns 1920WS. As I noted in that statement, investment aid is only one way in which the Government work with business in the regions; most business support schemes do not depend on the Regional Aid Guidelines. In addition, the horizontal guidelines will continue to allow aid to be granted anywhere post-2006. Regional aid nevertheless remains an important tool and the Government therefore want to ensure that under the new Regional Aid Guidelines, regional aid can still be granted in the areas where it is most needed to help address regional disparities and local deprivation. The present proposals from the Commission do not deliver this effectively as they do not adequately allow for disparities within regions, given that poor areas exist side by side with rich areas. I announced that the Government were issuing a consultation document seeking the views of all interested parties on the Commission's proposals. The consultation document is available on the DTI's website at www.dti.gov.uk/ewt/stateaid.pdf or www.dti.gov.uk/consultations/stateaid.pdf.

EDUCATION AND SKILLS

Charter Schools Programme

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what evaluation he has made of the charter schools programme in the United States and of whether the model could be applied to England; and if he will make a statement.

Charles Clarke: There has been no formal evaluation of the charter school programme carried out by my Department, although two of my Ministers have recently paid visits.
	We keep abreast of evaluations carried out by research institutions and have looked at a number of schooling models from other countries, including charter schools in the United States, which has helped to inform our thinking when considering school reform in England.

Carers

Theresa May: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many children he estimates act as carers.

Margaret Hodge: The 2001 Census recorded a total of 149,942 young carers aged 17 and under (England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland) who have caring responsibilities for another family member who is either unwell (including mental as well as physical illness) or disabled.

Early Intervention Project

Theresa May: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  what assessment his Department has made of the Early Intervention project;
	(2)  on what basis his Department has rejected the Early Intervention project as a model for separated parents' access to children.

Margaret Hodge: During the past year my Department has looked at a number of other jurisdictions' models for resolving conflict in cases of disputed contact between separated or divorced parents and their children. These included the Florida or Early Interventions approach from the United States. This model provides both parents with a court-approved regulated pattern of contact with their children, following divorce or separation.
	The Government are aware there are concerns about effective support for court ordered contact arrangements. We announced the Family Resolutions Pilot Project in March this year as one of the steps we are taking to tackle this. The pilot is designed to test a range of measuresparents in group discussion, raising parents' awareness of their own parenting skills and co-operative discussions between ex-partnersin helping parents reach agreement about contact with their children, after divorce or separation. It will run over one year from September in three areasBrighton, Sunderland and Inner London.
	This is a genuine pilot with no in-built assumption about what works. However it will be implemented in the context of the law in England and Wales (Children Act 1989) which has the interests of the child, rather than the rights of parents, as the paramount consideration. Therefore, we could not have adopted the Florida or Early Interventions model. The project will emphasise the key principle of parents continuing to work together in the best interest of their children, even if the adult relationship has broken down.
	We are also providing an additional 3.5 million for child contact centres from 200304 to 200506, including 14 new supervised contact centres. Through the introduction from January 2005 of new harm forms, judges can address domestic violence allegations at the start of contact cases. We will be publishing this summer proposals for consultation about improving compliance with court ordered contact and providing better support for parents in determining appropriate contact arrangements.

School Exclusions

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many children have been excluded from school for (a) six to 12, (b) 12 to 18, (c) 18 to 24 and (d) in excess of 24 months.

Ivan Lewis: holding answer 24 June 2004
	This information is not collected centrally. Although we collect data on the number of exclusions, we do not collect any information on the length of time excluded pupils are out of school prior to reintegration. Local education authorities are committed to providing full-time education, not necessarily at school, to all permanently excluded pupils. Currently all but two LEAs are meeting this commitment.

TRANSPORT

EU Accession States (Driving Offences)

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether criminal prosecution can be brought against persons from the new EU member states who drive without (a) a licence, (b) insurance and (c) due care and attention if the person being prosecuted has no fixed address in the United Kingdom.

Caroline Flint: I have been asked to reply.
	The legislation on these motoring offences applies to persons from new EU member states as to other drivers. They can therefore be prosecuted for contravention of the legislation. We are working to address the practical problems if they choose to leave the UK.

Air Travel (Financial Protection)

David Marshall: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will take steps to provide better financial protection for travellers on all types of air travel originating in the UK; and if he will make a statement.

Tony McNulty: The Civil Aviation Authority, the body responsible for the financial protection of people purchasing air travel packages, is shortly to provide advice to the Government on the extension of financial protection to all types of air travel originating in the UK.

Air Travel Trust Fund

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he expects to publish primary legislation to raise a new levy to replenish the Air Travel Trust Fund.

Tony McNulty: The Government will publish a Bill to raise a new levy as soon as parliamentary time permits.

Air Travel Trust Fund

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has to restructure the Air Travel Trust Fund.

Tony McNulty: We have no plans to restructure the Air Travel Trust Fund.

Bus Lanes

Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of whether all bus lanes in England and Wales meet the criteria laid down in his Department's guidelines; when he last undertook an audit of bus lanes to ensure that they comply with those guidelines; and if he will make a statement.

Kim Howells: The Department's published guidance on the design and implementation of bus lanes is contained in the Local Transport Note 1/97, Keeping Buses Moving, and in a resource pack developed by the Bus Partnership Forum in 2003, Bus PriorityThe Way Ahead. The guidance does not contain specific criteria that have to be met by individual bus lanes. It is for local authorities, in consultation with all interested parties, to decide where and in what form bus lanes will be appropriate as part of their local transport plans. The Department does not carry out audits of those decisions. Policy on bus lanes in Wales is a matter for the National Assembly for Wales.

Caravans (M5)

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the Highways Agency's plans to restrict caravans to the inside lane of the M5 motorway south of Bristol on bank holidays.

David Jamieson: The M5 is a vital link to the south-west for tourists but long queues on summer weekends and bank holidays are normal and have been for some years. These are caused by a short steep hill west of Bristol, known locally as Naish Hill. The permanent solution to this problem is a climbing lane, for which a contract has been awarded and is due to be completed by summer 2006.
	In the meantime, I have asked the Highways Agency to consider interim measures that could help relieve the present problems for all road users on the M5. The most effective way of reducing the congestion is for people to plan their journeys to avoid the peak times of Friday evening and Saturday morning and early afternoon. To encourage this, the Highways Agency will be advising vehicles towing trailers to stay in the inside lane of the M5 for the short length of Naish Hill during peak times. This will be introduced as a trial this summer and if successful, implemented for bank holiday and other weekends when heavy traffic is anticipated.
	The Highways Agency will be monitoring the trial closely to judge whether it has been a success.

Congestion Charge

Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will discuss with the Mayor of London the possibility of suspending the congestion charge on days when industrial action on the buses or railways affects people travelling into Greater London.

Kim Howells: The London congestion charging scheme is the responsibility of the Mayor.
	Transport for London's proposals to counter the effects of any industrial action are based on the measures adopted on previous occasions, namely:
	to work with all public transport service providers to ensure best use is made of available resources;
	to ensure that details of alternative walking options are readily available to those arriving at London termini by National Rail services, to avoid swamping bus and taxi services with short distance riders;
	to introduce supplementary river services between Tower Pier and Westminster/Waterloo piers during peak periods, taking account of funding issues, and availability of suitable vessels;
	providing and updating information via the media and existing websites on journey options for those intending to travel on days when industrial action is due to take place; and
	to liaise with other public transport operators whose services have recently been affected by strike action, to identify any improvement to the range of options relating to alternative service provision.
	Final decisions on proposed measures are taken once notification has been received of the dates and duration of any strike action.

Freight Facilities Grant

John Thurso: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much freight facilities grant was paid in each year since 200102; and how much is planned to be paid in each of the next three financial years (a) at current prices and (b) at outturn prices, broken down by organisations in receipt of such grants.

Tony McNulty: Yearly payments of Freight Facility Grants (FFG) by the Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) since 200102 are presented in outturn and 200304 prices in the table. Payments by organisation are shown in the SRA's Annual Report, copies of which have been placed in the Library of the House. The SRA's FFG scheme is currently suspended and no estimates have been made of future payments.
	
		 million
		
			  Constant prices (200304 as base year) Outturn price) 
		
		
			 200102 34.7 32.7 
			 200203 28.3 27.6 
			 200304 14.4 14.4 
		
	
	Past and projected FFG payments by the Department for Transport for water-borne freight in England and Wales, based on current commitments, are given below. The higher figures for 200203, 200304 and 200405 reflect payments to two exceptional capital projects.
	
		 million
		
			  Constant prices  (200304 as base year) Outturn prices 
		
		
			 200102 6.4 6.0 
			 200203 19.6 19.1 
			 200304 8.1 8.1 
			 200405 8.7 8.9 
			 200506 2.0 2.1 
		
	
	Expenditure plans for 200506 and beyond will be established following the current spending review.

Market Research

John Thurso: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  what market and opinion research was carried out by his Department, agencies and non-departmental public bodies since June 2001 broken down by (a) focus group research, (b) quantitative surveys and (c) other market research surveys; and when and where the results of each were published;
	(2)  how much his Department spent on opinion research in each financial year from 200102.

Tony McNulty: A list of market and opinion research undertaken by the Department, agencies and non-departmental public bodies is provided in a table, which has been placed in the Libraries of the House. These projects cover the period since the Department was formed in May 2002.
	In 200203 the Department spent around 433,000 and in 200304 around 457,000 on regular quantitative surveys of opinions. In addition, the Department also undertakes research of a more ad hoc nature, including qualitative and quantitative research, and the table provides information on the costs of those projects.

Means-tested Benefits

Peter Viggers: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the means-tested benefits available through the Department and the agencies for which it is responsible (a) in May 1997 and (b) now.

Tony McNulty: There are no such benefits available through the Department for Transport.

Railways

James Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has to change the regulatory role of the Health and Safety Executive in respect of the railway industry; and if he will make a statement.

Tony McNulty: The rail review is continuing to look at the regulation of safety. As my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Transport said in his statement to the House on 19 January, the Government will publish their proposals in the summer.

Railways

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will take steps to re-establish the linking of the Swanage railway line to the national network; and if he will make a statement.

Tony McNulty: The Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) approved a scheme for Rail Passenger Partnership (RPP) Funding in 2001, subject to finalisation of a project plan and safety case. The sponsors subsequently failed to satisfy Her Majesty's Rail Inspectorate (HMRI) on the safety case.
	Although the RPP fund was suspended last year the sponsors have continued to work on a revised scheme, in the event that there will be a mechanism, through which it can be progressed at a later stage.

Railways

John Thurso: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what record is kept of the total length in minutes of service delays on Britain's railways; and what plans his Department has to change the method of recording and reporting delays and cancellations.

Tony McNulty: When a train is late, the rail industry record the number of minutes it is late at various monitoring points along its journey and at the final destination. These delay minutes do not equate to the minutes of delay from a passengers point of view, as delay minutes can be accumulated along the journey but the train may make up time and still arrive at its final destination on time. For this reason performance is measured and published using the Public Performance Measure (PPM). PPM records whether a train arrives at its final destination within 5 minutes of its timetabled arrival time (10 minutes for long distance operators), cancellations are also counted as late and recorded. There are no plans to change this method of recording and reporting performance.

ADVOCATE-GENERAL

Sewel Motions

Mark Lazarowicz: To ask the Advocate-General if she will list the date and subject matter of each Sewel motion passed by the Scottish Parliament since it was established, stating the Bill or Act, if any, of this Parliament to which the motion referred.

Anne McGuire: I have been asked to reply.
	The date on which each Sewel motion was approved by the Scottish Parliament and the Bill or Act of this Parliament to which each refers are listed in the following table:
	
		Table of Sewel motions approved by the Scottish Parliament since it was established
		
			 Bill Date approved 
		
		
			 Food Standards(5) 23 June 1999 
			 Financial Services and Markets(5) 23 June 1999 
			 Electronic Communications(5) 23 June 1999 
			 Limited Liability Partnerships(5) 23 June 1999 
			 Sea Fishing Grants (Charges) 8 December 1999 
			 Representation of the People 13 January 2000 
			 Sexual Offences (Amdt) 19 January 2000 
			 Political Parties, Elections and Referendums (1) 9 March 2000 
			 Regulation of Investigatory Powers 6 April 2000 
			 Learning and Skills 18 May 2000 
			 Race Relations (Amdt) 25 May 2000 
			 Insolvency 1 June 2000 
			 Care Standards 22 June 2000 
			 Political Parties, Elections and Referendums (2) 6 July 2000 
			 Government Resources and Accounts 6 July 2000 
			 Criminal Justice and Courts Service 5 October 2000 
			 Health and Social Care Modernisation 17 January 2001 
			 Tobacco Advertising and Promotion 17 January 2001 
			 International Criminal Court 18 January 2001 
			 Outworking 31 January 2001 
			 Criminal Justice and Police 7 February 2001 
			 International Development 8 March 2001 
			 Culture and Recreation 8 March 2001 
			 Armed Forces 29 March 2001 
			 Adoption and Children (1) 4 April 2001 
			 Adoption and Children (2) 24 October 2001 
			 Proceeds of Crime 24 October 2001 
			 Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security 15 November 2001 
			 NHS Reform and Health Care Profession 22 November 2001 
			 Adoption and Children (3) 30 January 2002 
			 Police Reform 30 January 2002 
			 Enterprise 17 April 2002 
			 Private Hire Vehicles (Carriage of Guide Dogs etc.) (PMB) 19 June 2002 
			 Police Reform (2) 27 June 2002 
			 Extradition 21 November 2002 
			 Waste and Emissions Trading 28 November 2002 
			 Criminal Justice (1) 5 December 2002 
			 Crime (International Co-operation) 5 December 2002 
			 Local Government 6 February 2003 
			 Sexual Offences 20 March 2003 
			 Railways and Transport Safety 20 March 2003 
			 Health and Social Care (Community Health  Standards) 19 June 2003 
			 Fireworks 26 June 2003 
			 Legal Deposit Libraries 11 September 2003 
			 Criminal Justice (2) 9 October 2003 
			 Planning and Compulsory Purchase 20 November 2003 
			 Health Protection Agency 29 January 2004 
			 Energy 4 February 2004 
			 Gender Recognition 5 February 2004 
			 Higher Education 12 February 2004 
			 Asylum and Immigration (Treatment for Claimants) 12 February 2004 
			 Companies (Audit, Investigations and Community Enterprise) 4 March 2004 
			 Civil Contingencies 4 March 2004 
			 Justice (Northern Ireland) 18 March 2004 
			 Civil Partnership 3 June 2004 
		
	
	(5) Approval of Westminster legislation by the Scottish Parliament before it assumed its full powers on 1 July.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Cosmetic Surgery

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what discussions she has held with Ofcom about standards of advertising for cosmetic surgery products; and if she will make a statement.

Estelle Morris: Ofcom has a responsibility only in relation to broadcast advertising. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has held no discussions with Ofcom regarding broadcast advertising of cosmetic surgery products. It is for Ofcom to ensure that there is an appropriate standards code for the regulation of broadcast advertising and that it is targeted and proportionate.

Departmental Surveys

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what surveys of public perceptions of her Department and of its areas of responsibility have taken place over the last 12 months; what the (a) title and (b) nature of these surveys was; what the findings of each survey were; where these findings have been published; what the cost of such surveys was; and if she will make a statement and place copies of the surveys in the Library.

Richard Caborn: Details of public opinion research on attitudes to the Department or the policies or services for which the Department is responsible for the last financial year are shown in the table. I am arranging for copies of all the surveys to be placed in the Libraries of both Houses, except those marked *.
	
		
			 Title Year Purpose Findings Published Cost inc. of VAT unless otherwise stated () 
		
		
			 Making Heritage Count October 2003 The study was a nationwide survey of public attitudes towards heritage, which included more detailed research into the attitudes of different social groups in three diverse parts of the countryLondon, Bradford and Cornwall. The study included quantitative survey methods and qualitative focus group techniques 72 per cent. agreed that more should be done to recognise the contribution of different communities to our heritage 74 per cent. agreed that restoring older buildings could play a part in reviving neighbourhoods 29 per cent. of people from ethnic minorities said they had visited a historic building or garden in the last 12 months compared to the national average of 40 per cent.people from ethnic minorities were more likely than others to say that 'more information' would encourage them to visit heritage sites more often The focus groups provided a wide range of opinions and views on the value of heritage, and participants were invited to take photographs of the places in their local area that they counted as part of their 'heritage' Yes, Heritage Counts 2003 www.heritage counts.org.uk. Copies have also been placed in the House Library 62,627.50 
			 Annual Survey of Visitors to EH properties * October 2003 To monitor visitor profiles and visitor satisfaction Findingsinternal for commercial use Not in the public domain 2530,000 
			 Annual EH Members' Survey * September 2003 To monitor member satisfaction levels, motivations for joining and profiling members Findingsinternal for commercial use Not in the public domain 1015,000 
			 Qualitative Research to Inform the Preparation of the BBC Review 2004 2004 Qualitative Research as part of initial consultation on the BBC Charter review Our findings will be reflected in a DCMS paper to be published in the summer. The individual report will also be published in full on the dedicated Charter Review website No, be published in summer 2004, a copy will be placed in the Library of the House as soon practicable (6)88, 360 
			 A report on Deliberative Activity to support the DCMS Review of the BBC's Royal Charter 2004 Deliberative Research as part of initial consultation on the BBC Charter review Our findings will be reflected in a DCMS paper to be published in the summer. The individual report will also be published in full on the dedicated Charter Review website No, to be published in summer 2004, a copy will be placed in the Library of the House as soon practicable (6)83,010 
			 'Your BBC, Your Say' Consultations with children and young people about the BBC 2004 Four seminars for children and young people, in London and Omagh, to inform our consultation Our findings will be reflected in a DCMS paper to be published in the summer. The individual report will also be published in full on the dedicated Charter Review website No, be published in summer 2004, a copy will be placed in the Library of the House as soon practicable (6)19,195 
			 Annual Survey of Visitors to the Royal Parks 2003 200304 The survey covers a variety of topics but aims mainly to assess visitor satisfaction with the cleanliness and overall quality of the parks In relation to the Quality and Cleanliness key targets, for which the target was to score a minimum of 85 per cent. in each park, the survey results were as follows: Quality scores ranged from 92 per cent. in Greenwich Park to 81 per cent. in Green Park. Hyde Park, Kensington Gardens and Bushy Park just failed to meet the target, each scoring 84 per cent. Regent's, Richmond and St. James's Parks scored between 85 per cent. and 90 per cent. Cleanliness scores ranged from 84 per cent. in Regent's Park to 97 per cent. in Greenwich Park. Regent's was the only park to miss the target, its score clearly affected by the on-going sports development works. Most parks scored around 88 per cent. Yes, February 2004, a copy will be placed in the Library of the House as soon practicable. A copy can also be found at www.royalparks .gov.uk (6)33,480 
			 Best Value User Satisfaction Surveys 200304 200304 All English local authorities are statutorily required to undertake Best Value Performance Indicator (BVPI) surveys on a three-yearly basis to collect data for satisfaction performance indicators. The methodology and timetable are prescribed by ODPM. Cultural information is collected from two of the five BVPI surveys:  (a) The General Household Survey; (b) The Public Library User Survey (PLUS) ODPM will be publishing the topline results (aggregated to national and regional levels) of the General Household Survey on 30 June 2004. Audited results from all five surveys will be published in autumn 2004. The PLUS survey collects data on a broader basis than just BVPIs. Information drawn from these results appear in the CIPFA Public Library Statistics (Actuals), which are published annually in the summer Yes, the topline results of the General Household survey will be published on the ODPM website (www.odpm. gov.uk) on 30 June 2004 The General Household Survey covers a wide range of issues. It is not possible to disaggregate the cost of the cultural section of the survey. The PLUS survey is commissioned and paid for by individual local authorities. The cost can therefore vary significantly due to the size of the authority and the type of survey they commission 
			 Gambling 2004 January 2004 To explore participation in, and attitudes towards, gambling The survey showed that since 1999 participation in most forms of gambling had fallen, that most people were neither favourably nor unfavourably disposed towards most forms of gambling and that a majority considered present regulation of most forms of gambling to be about right Yes, in early April 2004, the full tables (114 pages) of results were posted on the DCMS website along with a technical paper, a copy will be placed in the Library of the Hose as soon as practicable (6)10,875 
			 Sports Coaching in the UK 200304 The main aim behind this study was to help those involved in developing sports coaching in the UK better understand the current state of the profession The provision of detailed information on the number of coaches and the opinions of those involved in coaching will help inform decision makers over the forthcoming years and set a benchmark against which change can be measured No, to be published in autumn 2004, a copy will be placed in the Library of the House as soon practicable 213,000 
		
	
	(6) Excluding VAT

Empty Houses

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport for how many empty houses her Department is responsible; and if she will make a statement.

Richard Caborn: The DCMS estate does not include any empty houses.

Men's Magazines

Peter Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will make it her policy to subject men's magazines which distribute DVDs with an age-related classification to a similar classification requirement; and if she will make a statement.

Estelle Morris: Under the Video Recordings Act 1984, it is an offence to supply or offer to supply a DVD to a person below the age specified in its classification. I therefore see no need to subject men's magazines to additional classification requirements.

Pay Systems

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will place in the Library the most recent review of (a) her Department's pay systems, (b) the pay systems of the non-departmental public bodies for which she is responsible and (c) the departmental equal pay action plan.

Richard Caborn: I will place the information relating to this Department in the Libraries of both Houses. Reviews of pay systems in non-departmental public bodies are not undertaken centrally but, rather, are a matter for individual bodies.

PFI/PPP Contracts

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many contracts have been let by her Department in each financial year since 200102 to (a) PricewaterhouseCoopers, (b) Deloitte and Touche, (c) KPMG and (d) Ernst  Young for advising her Department on private finance initiative and public private partnership contracts; and what fees were paid in each case.

Richard Caborn: None of the named consultancies has been awarded any private finance initiative or public private partnership contracts in any of the last three years.

Tourism

Malcolm Moss: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many (a) overseas tourists and (b) domestic tourists have visited London in each year since 1992.

Richard Caborn: The available statistics for the number of visits to London by overseas and domestic tourists since 1992 are shown in the table. Statistics are only available on visits which included a stay of at least one night.
	
		Million
		
			  Visits to London by staying: 
			  (a) Overseas tourists (b) Domestic tourists(7) 
		
		
			 1992 9.2  
			 1993 9.6  
			 1994 10.4  
			 1995 11.9  
			 1996 12.3  
			 1997 12.3  
			 1998 12.3  
			 1999 13.2  
			 2000 13.1 18.5 
			 2001 11.5 16.9 
			 2002 11.6 16.1 
			 2003 11.8 Not yet available 
		
	
	(7) Regional data from the UK Tourism Survey are only available back to the start of 2000 due to a significant change in the survey methodology in 1999.
	Sources:
	1. International Passenger Survey.
	2. UK Tourism Survey.

SCOTLAND

Departmental Websites

Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what the total cost of his Department's websites was in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Anne McGuire: The cost of maintaining the websites for the Scotland Office and the Office of the Advocate-General in 200304 was 764. The Friends of Scotland website was transferred to the Scottish Executive on 1 July 2003.

Employment Tribunals

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many cases against his Department and its predecessor organisations have been brought to employment tribunals in each year since 1997 in relation to (a) equal pay, (b) sex discrimination, (c) race discrimination, (d) disability discrimination and (e) unfair dismissal; how many cost awards were made against (i) respondents and (ii) applicants; and how much has been spent (A) settling and (B) contesting claims.

Anne McGuire: The Scotland Office was established on 1 July 1999. Since that date no cases involving the office have been brought to an employment tribunal.

Pay Systems

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will place in the Library the most recent review of (a) his Department's pay systems and (b) the departmental equal pay action plan.

Anne McGuire: The staff of the Scotland Office were included in the equal pay review completed by the Scottish Executive in April 2004. A summary of the main findings, together with a note of the action which will be taken to ensure that the pay system is free from discrimination, will be issued to staff shortly. A copy will be placed in the Library.

Renewable Energy

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what discussions he has had with the Department of Trade and Industry about renewable energy provision in Scotland.

Anne McGuire: The development of renewable energy in Scotland is a matter for the Scottish Executive. However, both the Scottish Executive and the Government place renewables at the heart of energy policy and the Scotland Office has had regular discussions with the Department of Trade and Industry on the subject of renewable energy in Scotland.
	A Government amendment to the Energy Bill in the House of Lords provides a power to give assistance to renewable generators connecting in remote and peripheral areas.

CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS

PFI/PPP Contracts

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many contracts have been let by the Department in each financial year since 200102 to (a) PricewaterhouseCoopers, (b) Deloitte and Touche, (c) KPMG and (d) Ernst  Young for advising his Department on private finance initiative and public private partnership contracts; and what fees were paid in each case.

David Lammy: From 1 April 2001, my Department and its predecessors have let contracts with these accountancy firms for advice on private finance initiative and public private partnership contracts under a framework agreement as follows: (a) PricewaterhouseCoopers (2); (b) Deloitte and Touche (none); (c) KPMG (-1); and (d) Ernst  Young (-3).
	The breakdown of fees paid to each for the relevant years is as follows:
	
		
		
			  200102 200203 200304 
		
		
			 PricewaterhouseCoopers 357,456 101,425 0 
			 Deloitte and Touche 0 0 0 
			 KPMG 46,289 50,168 13,733 
			 Ernst  Young 161,042 115,885 105,148

Regional Assembly Referendums

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what (a) meetings and (b) correspondence his Department has had since 10 June with the Electoral Commission concerning the regional assembly referendums; and if he will place copies of such correspondence in the Library.

Christopher Leslie: Officials from the Department for Constitutional Affairs attended a meeting on 28 June 2004 between the Electoral Commission and the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister as part of a regular series of meetings to discuss regional assembly referendums. No further meetings have taken place bilaterally between the Department for Constitutional Affairs and the Electoral Commission on this issue. There has been no correspondence between the Department for Constitutional Affairs and the Electoral Commission on this issue.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Electricity Prices

Roy Beggs: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assessment he has made of the impact that the building of the North West gas pipeline will have on domestic electricity prices to customers in Northern Ireland.

Barry Gardiner: As part of the consultation on the introduction of the Energy (Northern Ireland) Order 2003, an assessment was made of the impact of expanding the gas network in Northern Ireland, which comprises the North West and South North pipelines. The effect of postalisation on the average domestic electricity bill was estimated to be an increase of 0.6 per cent., equivalent to around 1.80 per annum.

Means-Tested Benefits

Peter Viggers: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, if he will list the means-tested benefits available through his Department and the agencies for which it is responsible (a) in May 1997 and (b) now.

John Spellar: The income-related or means-tested benefits available to people in Northern Ireland are:
	(a) in 1997income support, income-based jobseeker's allowance, housing benefit, family credit and disability working allowance;
	(b) in 2004income support, income-based jobseeker's allowance, state pension credit and housing benefit.

Police Service

David Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the budgetary provision is for the Police Service for 200405; what the expenditure by the Police Service has been so far in the current financial year; what his estimate is of the likely end-of-year financial out-turn; and if he will make a statement.

Ian Pearson: The overall approved budgetary provision for the PSNI is 734.8 million, being 706.8 million revenue and 28 million capital. For the two-month period to the end of May 2004, actual spend was 118.3 million against a budget of 124 million.
	It is too early in the financial year to estimate the end of year out-turn, but the PSNI is planning to keep within its budgetary provision. A key factor is the public order situation during the summer months and the potential impact on overtime costs. This and other factors will be monitored as the year progresses.

Road Policing

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many (a) mobile traffic police units and (b) permanent speed cameras there are in each district command unit in Northern Ireland.

Ian Pearson: The information requested is as follows:
	(a) The PSNI currently have eight mobile speed detection cameras. These are a regional resource and are deployed at identified sites where there is a history of injury collisions and evidence of speeding across all District Command Units.
	(b) The PSNI currently have four fixed safety cameras, all of which are located in Belfast District Command Unit at the following sites:
	Saintfield Road
	Newtownards Road
	Antrim Road
	Springfield Road.

DEFENCE

Afghanistan

Joan Ruddock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what NATO's future plans are for Afghanistan; and when the increased forces will be deployed.

Adam Ingram: The NATO summit in Istanbul confirmed the Alliance's plans to expand the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) across Afghanistan. This is already under waywe transferred control over the United Kingdom-led Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRTs) in North-West Afghanistan and their support forces, from the coalition to the ISAF on 1 July 2004. New German and Dutch PRTs are also to deploy in the near future. In addition, NATO has undertaken to deploy a quick reaction force of up to a thousand troops. Further troops will be put on high readiness to move into theatre if required.

Army Training Establishments

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether his ministerial colleagues have read the report by Lieutenant Colonel (Retired) Haes OBE, Army Training and Recruitment Agency, Duty of Care and Supervision Report 9801, into the regime at Army initial training establishments.

Ivor Caplin: A number of reports, including the Haes report, relate to the care of trainees at Army initial training establishments. Ministers have been briefed on the content of these reports.

Army Training Establishments

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the members of the chain of command who have studied the Haes Army Training and Recruitment Agency Duty of Care and Suspension Report 9801; how many of the report's recommendations have been implemented; when they were implemented; and if he will make a statement.

Ivor Caplin: The Haes report was widely circulated within the Army Training and Recruitment Agency (ATRA) and Army headquarters. It was not directly a vehicle for action, though many of the issues raised (including recruit to instructor ratios and the time lag that may occur between initial and trade training) were taken up by subsequent work.

Harrier GR7 Aircraft

John Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Harrier GR7 aircraft undergoing HMP3 block 1A programme will be repaired at BAE Warton.

Adam Ingram: Eleven Harrier GR7 aircraft in total.

Harrier GR7 Aircraft

John Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of whether Royal Navy personnel have a sufficient level of competence to work on Harrier GR7 aircraft up to the standard required by the RAF.

Adam Ingram: RN personnel are trained to the same high standards as those in the RAF and have to achieve a certificate of competency before being allowed to work, or supervise work, on any aircraft type.
	RN personnel employed on Harrier GR7 Squadrons are required to pass the same qualification courses as their RAF colleagues.

Iran

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the written ministerial statement on the Shatt Al Arab incident, of 30 June 2004, Official Report, columns 1213WS, if he will publish the text of representations made to the Iranian Government about the seizure and treatment of British service personnel.

Geoff Hoon: The details of such representations are confidential between Governments. I set out the nature of the representations in my statement of 30 June 2004, Official Report, columns 1213WS.

Iran

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the written ministerial statement on the Shatt Al Arab incident, of 30 June 2004, Official Report, columns 1213WS, what his latest assessment is of the accuracy of the claim by British servicemen that they were seized by the Iranians when outside Iranian territorial waters.

Geoff Hoon: Our latest assessment remains that which I set out to the House by written statement on 30 June 2004, Official Report, columns 1213WS. Our inquiries would be greatly assisted by the return of an intact Global Positioning System (GPS).

Iran

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the written ministerial statement on the Shatt Al Arab incident, of 30 June 2004, Official Report, columns 1213WS, what the medical reasons associated with the incident are which caused one seized serviceman to be returned to the United Kingdom.

Geoff Hoon: Individuals' medical details are a private matter and are confidential.

Iraq

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether in any case under investigation by the Royal Military Police in Iraq the Royal Military Police was involved in the activity under investigation; and if he will make a statement.

Adam Ingram: A number of cases under investigation in Iraq involve the Royal Military Police but mainly as victims of crime, including two cases where a total of nine RMP soldiers were killed. Three cases involving the injury of Iraqis by RMP soldiers during operational incidents were investigated but no evidence of crime was found in each case.

Iraq

Peter Pike: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer from the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, of 18 May 2004, Official Report, column 887W, to the right hon. Member for Holborn and St. Pancras (Mr. Dobson) and the hon. Member for Tooting (Tom Cox), on Iraq, what the cost to the Ministry of Defence of operations in Iraq has been in this financial year.

Adam Ingram: The Ministry of Defence, in common with other Government Departments, publishes expenditure data on an annual basis in its Resource Accounts following audit by the National Audit Office. Audited figures for the cost of operations in Iraq in this financial year will be published in the MOD's Resource Accounts in 2005. (Figures for 200304 will be published this September.) It is too early to provide any estimate for the total costs that will be incurred this year, but we will ask the House to vote the necessary funds in Supplementary Estimates in due course.

Iraq

Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to his answer of 30 June to Question 158865, on Iraqi bodies, what the names were of the Iraqis for whom requests were made for exhumation; and what the date of the request was in each case.

Adam Ingram: holding answer 5 July 2004
	The names of the Iraqis for whom exhumation requests were made are shown as follows along with the date of the request and whether the request to exhume was granted.
	
		
			  Request made Request granted 
		
		
			 Ahmed Jabber Kareem 28 May 2003 Yes 
			 Abdul Al Jubba Mousa Ali 18 June 2003 No 
			 Nadhem Abdullah 16 July 2003 to 17 December 2003 No/no 
			 G. G. H. D. Roomi 22 January 2004 Yes 
			 Ather Khalaf Mohammed 8 February 2004 Yes 
		
	
	Investigating Officers have sought exhumations to assist with their inquiries on six occasions. Where the families have refused to give permission exhumations have not been performed, as UK armed forces have respected local culture and religious beliefs, even though this has hampered some investigations.

Iraq

John Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will place in the Library a copy of the document issued to service personnel announcing the ban on the use of hoods for Iraqi prisoners.

Geoff Hoon: An amended Standard Operating Instruction on the Policy for Apprehending, Handling and Processing Detainees and Internees was issued on 30 September 2003. The following section of the document contains the relevant information.
	a. Apprehended individuals are to be treated at all times fairly, humanely and with respect for his or her personal dignity;
	b. Apprehended individuals are to be protected from danger and the elements;
	c. Apprehended individuals are not to be kept in direct sunlight for long periods;
	d. Medical care is to be provided if required;
	e. Food and water are to be provided as necessary, having regard to any national, ethnic or religious dietary requirements;
	f. Physical and mental torture, corporal punishment, humiliating or degrading treatment, or the threat of such, is prohibited;
	g. The use of hooding and stress positions are prohibited;
	h. Females are to be segregated from males;
	i. Juveniles (under 15) are to be segregated from other apprehended individuals unless to do so would impose solitary confinement on the individual; and
	j. It is a command responsibility to ensure that all apprehended individuals are treated in accordance with these principles.

Corporal Rees

Kevin McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the result was of the investigation conducted by the Land Accident Investigation Team and the Health and Safety Executive following the death of Corporal Thomas Rees on 23 May 2003; and what the principal recommendations of the board of inquiry were.

Adam Ingram: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave him on 20 October 2003, Official Report, column 371W. Inquiries into the death of Corporal Rees are continuing and it would be inappropriate to comment until they are complete.

Plastic Baton Rounds

Kevin McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Service personnel serving in Iraq have been trained in the use of plastic baton rounds.

Adam Ingram: Before deployment to Operation Telic all major units are subject to pre-deployment training and undergo a special weapons course, which includes training in the use of plastic baton rounds. From this training, further training is given in Iraq, as required. It is therefore not possible to give a precise figure on numbers of personnel who have been trained in the use of plastic baton rounds. Only those trained in the use of the baton rounds are permitted to use them on operations.

Porton Down

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will give compensation to service personnel who say that they volunteered to take part in experiments at the Chemical Defence Establishment at Porton Down when they believed that they were taking part in research to find a cure for the common cold; and if he will make a statement.

Ivor Caplin: Service personnel who suffered loss or injury as a result of negligence by the Ministry of Defence prior to May 1987 are prevented from pursuing claims for compensation from the Ministry of Defence by Section 10 of The Crown Proceedings Act 1947. Therefore any claims received from Porton Down veterans would be considered on the basis of whether or not the Ministry of Defence has a legal liability to pay compensation.
	Compensation in the form of a War Pension is however, available to all former members of HM armed forces suffering from Service attributable to illness or injury. War Pensions are non-discretionary, not means tested and are made on a no-fault, tax free and retrospective basis.

RAF Cottesmore

John Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Royal Navy personnel are serving at RAF Cottesmore.

Adam Ingram: As at 1 June 2004, 96 Royal Navy personnel were serving at RAF Cottesmore plus one junior rating on full time Reserve Service.

RAF Cottesmore

John Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how the premature voluntary release rate at RAF Cottesmore has changed since the relocation of the Harrier work from Defence Aviation Repair Agency, RAF St. Athan.

Adam Ingram: No Harrier work has yet transferred from DARA, St. Athan to RAF Cottesmore.

RAF Cottesmore

John Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many additional RAF personnel have been employed at RAF Cottesmore since the Harrier work was relocated from Defence Aviation Repair Agency, RAF St Athan.

Adam Ingram: None. No Harrier work has yet transferred from DARA, St Athan to RAF Cottesmore.

RAF Cottesmore

John Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what improvement there has been in fleet equivalent extension since the relocation of all Harrier work to RAF Cottesmore from Defence Aviation Repair Agency, RAF St. Athan; and whether the servicing backlog has been reduced.

Adam Ingram: Harrier engineering work, currently carried out at DARA, RAF St. Athan, will not commence at RAF Cottesmore until November 2004.
	The Harrier servicing backlog has reduced since the high activity levels of Operation Telic but has risen this month, largely due to the need to undertake preparatory work at RAF Cottesmore in readiness for the relocation of engineering work from St. Athan.

RAF Cottesmore

John Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what demonstrated (a) turn-round times and (b) manpower reductions have been achieved from the pulse line at RAF Cottesmore.

Adam Ingram: The pulse line at RAF Cottesmore has to date achieved a reduction in aircraft turn-round times of about 45 days (some 40 per cent.) for scheduled maintenance. Six fewer personnel are now directly employed on aircraft maintenance.

RAF Cottesmore

John Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence for what reason the Harrier integrated project team is allocating work to BAE Warton and not RAF Cottesmore, as recommended in the E2E Harrier Investment Appraisal.

Adam Ingram: The Harrier Modification Programme Number 3 identified that aircraft early in the programme must be contracted to BAE Systems Warton to achieve the Harrier GR9 in-service date and de-risk the transition to the Joint Upgrade and Maintenance Programme. Later aircraft will be allocated to RAF Cottesmore.

RAF Cottesmore

John Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the total implementation costs were for the pulse line at RAF Cottesmore, including the cost of consultants, the hangar floor and air trolleys.

Adam Ingram: The implementation costs for the hangar floor and air trolleys amounted to some 600,000 excluding VAT. Consultancy support was used for all aircraft business improvements at RAF Cottesmore and to separately identify the costs for the pulse line would be time consuming and could only be achieved at disproportionate cost. These three elements constitute the full implementation cost of the pulse line.

RAF Cottesmore

John Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether avionics and electrical tradesmen are being relocated from front line squadrons to assist the pulse line at RAF Cottesmore without the approval or authority of Strike Command.

Adam Ingram: No.

RAF Cottesmore

John Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether the 80 day turn-round time has been achieved at RAF Cottesmore.

Adam Ingram: Yes. The pulse line at RAF Cottesmore has to date achieved an average turn-round time of 75 days for scheduled maintenance.

RAF Cottesmore

John Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the extent is of double shift working on Harrier aircraft at RAF Cottesmore.

Adam Ingram: 'Double shift working' is taken to mean either two shifts of personnel working concurrently or personnel working both shifts in the same day. Since Op, no personnel at RAF Cottesmore have undertaken double shifts to maintain Harrier aircraft.

RAF Cottesmore

John Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many aircraft were repaired at RAF Cottesmore in the financial year 200304.

Adam Ingram: During financial year 200304 some 60 Harrier aircraft permanently based at RAF Cottesmore and RAF Wittering were subject to first line servicing and repair at the Stations. First line servicing includes daily inspections, fluid replenishments, component replacement and minor structural repair. In addition, 13 aircraft completed their servicing in the pulse line during FY 200304, a further seven aircraft began their servicing in FY 200203 and were completed in FY 200304 and five aircraft started servicing in FY 200304 but have not yet been completed.

RAF Cottesmore

John Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the target number of aircraft to be repaired at RAF Cottesmore was in the financial year 200304.

Adam Ingram: There are no targets set for the number of aircraft to be repaired at RAF Cottesmore. This is dependent on operational requirements and the management of the departmental fleet as a whole.

Staff Cars

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many and what percentage of the total of each different model of staff car was provided to officers of the armed forces in 2003, giving the country of manufacture of each model.

Ivor Caplin: The overwhelming majority of staff cars used by the Department are provided under the terms of two contracts for service provision. One contract provides a service in the UK and the other in Germany. Local arrangements apply in the smaller commands, such as Northern Ireland, but these have not been included in the answer.
	The information regarding the models of staff car provided under the terms of the contracts in 2003 is given in the following tables:
	
		United Kingdom
		
			 Manufacturer Model Country of manufacture Number Percentage of total 
		
		
			 Vauxhall Omega 2.5L Germany 3 0.4 
			  Omega 2.0L Germany 1 0.1 
			  Vectra 2.0L Germany 502 61.5 
			  
			 Ford Mondeo 2.0L Belgium 228 27.9 
			  
			 Rover 75 Connoisseur SE United Kingdom 16 2.0 
			  75 CDT Club United Kingdom 66 8.1 
			   Total 816 100 
		
	
	
		Germany
		
			 Manufacturer Model Country of manufacture Number Percentage of total 
		
		
			 Opel Omega Germany 5 2.7 
			  Vectra Germany 170 91.9 
			  
			 VW Passat Germany 10 5.4 
			   Total 185 100

HEALTH

Accident and Emergency Services

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what (a) geographic and (b) demographic factors he requires should be taken into account when reviewing the provision of accident and emergency services in (i) acute and (ii) community hospitals;
	(2)  how many accident treatment centres there are in England; and how many use tele-medicine;
	(3)  what assessment he has made of the optimal population size to be served by an accident treatment centre.

Rosie Winterton: holding answer 6 July 2004
	The Department does not collect information on number of accident treatment centres in England, or how many use tele-medicine.
	Accident and emergency departments, minor injury units and walk-in centres all vary in their sizes and in the populations they serve. It is the responsibility of the local national health service to develop services in response to local needs and to ensure that appropriate facilities are provided for the local population.
	Guidance on service change, Keeping the NHS LocalA New Direction of Travel was published in February 2003. It sets out core principles for service change that the NHS must now follow. It challenges the view that biggest is best and sets out a range of strategies and options to help the NHS keep services local. This guidance also emphasises the important role community hospitals can play in providing partnership working with the whole health and social care system locally.

Anti-depressants

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations he has received expressing dissatisfaction with the performance of the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency and the Committee on Safety of Medicines in communicating to users the risks of dependence on selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and related drugs.

Rosie Winterton: Representations have been received from patients and from hon. and right hon. Members in respect of constituents about withdrawal reactions associated with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and related drugs. In response, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and the Committee on Safety of Medicines (CSM) has communicated with prescribers about the potential for withdrawal reactions via articles in the bulletin, Current Problems in Pharmacovigilance. An information sheet for patients about use of SSRIs in the September 2003 edition of Current Problems in Pharmacovigilance highlighted the issue of withdrawal reactions. This was drafted with the input of patient representatives from the CSM's expert working group on the safety of SSRIs. This information is also reflected in the patient information leaflets for these products, which have been updated as new evidence has become available.

Anti-depressants

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the (a) quality and (b) outcome of the 1998 review of the risk of dependence on selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor and related anti-depressants, conducted by the sub-committee on pharmacovigilance; and what the relevant qualifications were of each member of the review panel.

Rosie Winterton: The then Medicines Control Agency (MCA) conducted the review of withdrawal reactions associated with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and related anti-depressants, which was considered by the sub-committee on pharmacovigilance on 24 February 1998 and the Committee on Safety of Medicines (CSM) on 26 March 1998. The CSM endorsed the conclusions of the sub-committee on pharmacovigilance, that all SSRIs were associated with withdrawal reactions and that no strong evidence from any source had been identified to suggest that the SSRIs and related anti-depressants cause features of dependence other than withdrawal symptoms.
	A separate review of all available data was subsequently conducted by the European scientific advisory committee, the Committee for Proprietary Medicinal Products (CPMP) with France and Germany as lead member states. The conclusions of this review were consistent with those of the CSM and were published in a CPMP position paper in 2000.
	The list of the members of the sub-committee on pharmacovigilance present at the 24 February 1998 meeting and their qualifications has been placed in the Library.

Cancer Treatment

Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the use of linear accelerators in treating cancer patients.

Melanie Johnson: Radiotherapy is a principle tool in the fight against cancer, alongside chemotherapy and surgery. Linear accelerators use high-energy x-ray beams to treat deep tumours and electrons to treat skin cancer.
	We are committed to giving patients equal access to this technology. We have committed 145 million between 2002 and 2006 to provide 28 additional and 82 replacement linear accelerators to the national health service. This is in addition to the 15 additional linear accelerators and 42 replacements provided from the new opportunities fund between 1999 and 2003.

Commercial Directorate

Mark Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  which Minister within his Department has responsibility for the Commercial Directorate at the NHS;
	(2)  what the objectives are of the Commercial Directorate in the NHS.

John Hutton: holding answer 28 June 2004
	My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health has overall responsibility for all areas of the Department, including the Commercial Directorate. I have specific responsibility for the Commercial Directorate.
	The Commercial Directorate was established in June 2003 in response to the recognition of a need for more focus and synergy by the Department and the national health service in its dealings with the independent sector and also a requirement for the adoption of sharper commercial management and good practice.
	The objectives of the Commercial Directorate are to secure best value and best practice for the Department and the NHS from its relationship with private and voluntary organisations and to provide a professional and commercially trained interface with the independent sector.

Departmental Policy (Gloucester Constituency)

Parmjit Dhanda: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will set out, with statistical evidence relating as closely as possible to the Gloucester constituency, the effects of changes to departmental policy since 1997 on the Gloucester constituency.

Rosie Winterton: holding answer5 July 2004
	The Government have put in place a programme of National Health Service investment and reform since 1997 to improve service delivery in all parts of the United Kingdom. There is significant evidence that these policies have yielded considerable benefits for the Gloucester constituency.
	For example:
	At the end of March 2004, the number of people waiting more than nine months for inpatient treatment within West Gloucestershire Primary Care Trust (PCT) has fallen to 2, from 217 in June 2002.
	At the end of March 2004, the number of patients waiting over 13 weeks for outpatient treatment within West Gloucestershire PCT has fallen to 75, from 1016 in June 2002.
	In 2002, at Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Trust, 87.1 per cent, of patients spent less than four hours in accident and emergency from arrival to admission, transfer or discharge. Figures for December 2003 show an improvement to 94.2 per cent.
	Between September 2002 and September 2003, the number of consultants at Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Trust has increased from 205 to 226. The number of nurses increased from 1,928 to 2,152.
	Figures for April 2004 show that all patients within West Gloucestershire PCT are able to be offered an appointment with a primary care professional within one working day.
	In the Gloucester local authority area, death rates from cancer per 100,000 population have fallen to 165.6 in 2002, from 176.7 in 1997.
	In the Gloucester local authority area, death rates from coronary heart disease per 100,000 population have fallen to 149.8 in 2002, from 162.4 in 1997.
	West Gloucestershire PCT's allocation has risen to 206.0 million for 200405, a cash increase of 9.4 per cent.
	30 million investment has been made in a private finance initiative redevelopment at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital to provide modern, state of the art health care facilities; anticipated to open in autumn 2004
	8.5 million has been invested in four new operating theatres and oral and maxillofacial laboratory and a medical engineering department at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital.

Expert Patients Programme

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether patients who may benefit from the expert patients programme will have access to it by 2008.

Melanie Johnson: By 2008, the expert patients programme will have become part of health care provision in this country and will be built into every health community in the national health service as part of the wider effort to improve services for people with chronic long-term conditions.

GPs

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many general practitioners per primary care trust he estimates (a) provide national enhanced services for homeless people, (b) register homeless people for essential and advanced services and (c) provide outreach health care to homeless people; and if he will make a statement.

John Hutton: This information is not held centrally, nor can it be estimated. Primary care trusts are responsible for ensuring the provision of primary care services to meet the needs of their populations, including the provision of essential, additional and enhanced primary medical care services for people who may be homeless.

Health Literacy

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what definition he uses of the term health literacy, as referred to in paragraph 8.30 of the NHS Improvement Plan.

Melanie Johnson: The Department supports a broad meaning to the health literacy, such as the following given by the World Health Organisation:
	Health literacy represents the cognitive and social skills which determine the motivation and ability of individuals to gain access to, understand and use information in ways which promote and maintain good health.
	Health literacy means more than being able to read pamphlets and successfully make appointments. By improving people's access to health information and their capacity to use it effectively, improved health literacy is critical to empowerment.

Healthy Living Centres

Jeff Ennis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will ensure that, when a prospective site for a healthy living centre has been identified, further consideration of that site is subject to the widest possible public consultation exercise, including public meetings.

Melanie Johnson: The healthy living centre programme is funded by the big lottery fund via open competitive grants. The programme was launched in 1999 and made its final awards in September 2002.
	In making grant awards, the big lottery fund required applicants to the healthy living centre programme to ensure that users and local communities were involved in both the design and delivery of grant projects. Relevant organisations such as local authorities, health boards and strategic health authorities should be involved in this process.

NHS Reviews

Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many requests he received from local overview and scrutiny committees to refer proposals connected with NHS revision to independent review panels in (a) 2001, (b) 2002 and (c) 2003; and how many he granted.

Rosie Winterton: holding answer 6 July 2004
	Local overview and scrutiny committees (OSCs) had their powers vested in them from 1 January 2003. Since that date, there is no record held of a referral from an OSC on a substantial development to health services to the Secretary of State.

Obesity

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to promote physical activity as a means of tackling obesity.

Melanie Johnson: Together with my right hon. Friend the Minister for Sport and Tourism, I chair the cross-Government activity co-ordination team. This group has been tasked with identifying and co-ordinating work to achieve greater levels of physical activity and sports participation, with the long term goal of improving health and wellbeing, including contributing to weight management and tackling obesity levels.
	The Department, together with Sport England (a Department for Culture, Media and Sport funded non-departmental public body) and the Countryside Agency funds the local exercise action pilot scheme, which is testing out community-wide approaches to increasing levels of physical activity.
	The Department, as a co-funder alongside the Countryside Agency and the British Heart Foundation, has contributed 27,000 to a pilot scheme that has distributed 10,000 pedometers for use in primary care.
	The Department and Sport England have jointly commissioned research to evaluate existing questionnaires used to determine participation in physical activity and sport. We have also commissioned work to develop an objective measure of fitness for eventual inclusion in the Health Survey for England and a short physical activity questionnaire for use in general practice.
	The Department published a national quality assurance framework for exercise referral systems in 2001 and has contributed funding to help establish the register of exercise professionals.
	The Government have been consulting on further proposals on how we can increase levels of activity and encourage more people to be more active through the consultation document, Choosing Health? Choosing Activity. The responses will inform preparation of the Public Health White Paper to be published in the autumn.

PHLS Media Services

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how many expressions of interest have been received for the purchase of the business of PHLS Media Services;
	(2)  if he will publish the review of PHLS Media Services undertaken by KPMG;
	(3)  what his policy is for the future of PHLS Media Services;
	(4)  what plans he has to consult the staff of PHLS Media Services on its future;
	(5)  whether he has consulted (a) the Health Protection Agency and (b) the Purchasing and Supply Agency on the future of PHLS Media Services;
	(6)  whether he has consulted UK Resilience on the future of PHLS Media Services.

Melanie Johnson: The production of specialist media for the Health Protection Agency (HPA) will be taken over by the HPA itself. Working with the Public Health Laboratory Service (PHLS) board, we are exploring the possibilities for transferring the remainder of the PHLS' media supply operations to the private sectorfrom which we have received four replies to our approaches for expressions of interest for this business.
	As part of this exercise, we are consulting with key customer and policy stakeholders concerning the future provision of microbiological mediaincluding representatives of the HPA, the National Health Service Purchasing and Supply Agency and the civil contingencies secretariat in the Cabinet Office. We do not plan to publish the report of the review of provision of media services prepared for the Department by KPMG.
	The staff of the PHLS Media Services have already been advised by their management of the plans for the future of the service and they will be fully consulted as the plans are developed further.

PHLS Media Services

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what proportion of agar plates procured by NHS laboratories were supplied by PHLS Media Services in 2003;
	(2)  what the average cost is of agar plates purchased from (a) PHLS Media Services and (b) private sector suppliers.

Melanie Johnson: In 2003, PHLS Media Services provided approximately 27 per cent. of the agar plates used by the national health service.
	The average cost of plates provided to the NHS and the Health Protection Agency by PHLS Media Services during 2003 was 2.10 per pack of 10. Information on the cost of plates provided by private sector suppliers is not collected centrally.

Scanners

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 10 May 2004, Official Report, column 190W, on scanners, according to what criteria he proposes to allocate additional capacity for mobile MRI scanners between strategic health authorities.

Melanie Johnson: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State of State for Health announced on 8 April that work is under way to eradicate waits for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) through national procurement of a mobile MRI service.
	The new mobile MRI service offers a 10 per cent. increase in the capacity available to the national health service. In practical terms, approximately 120,000 extra scans will be available to doctors to help patient diagnosis. The scans will be provided by a number of mobile unitsat this stage we expect at least 10which can be moved from location to location. Therefore, strategic health authorities will receive activity on a fair shares basis and schedule visits to address areas of greatest need.

Social Care Students

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what financial assistance is available for students of social care.

Stephen Ladyman: All social work students who ordinarily reside in England receive a non-means tested bursary of an average of 2,500, plus 500 towards the practice placement travel costs. Tuition fees are also met.
	Social work students are entitled to apply for the student loan and if they have special needs may also be entitled to allowances from the local education authority.
	For social work students who hold a first degree, there is a means tested additional graduate bursary they can apply to for further funds.

Water Act

Graham Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  when his Department last discussed the draft regulations to be made under the Water Act 2003 on arrangement for public consultations with (a) strategic health authorities, (b) the Commission for Patient and Public Involvement in Healthcare, (c) patient interest groups, (d) the National Pure Water Association, (e) representatives of the water industry and (f) the British Fluoridation Society; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  when he expects to publish the draft regulations under the Water Act 2003 on arrangements for public consultations; and if he will make a statement.

Melanie Johnson: holding answer 28 June 2004
	We are shortly to publish a draft of the regulations to be made under the Water Act 2003 for consultation and intend that all the bodies to which the hon. Member refers should be included in the consultation.

Worcestershire NHS Acute Trust

Julie Kirkbride: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether private finance initiative payments at Worcestershire NHS Acute Trust are tied to interest rates set by the Bank of England.

Stephen Ladyman: The unitary payment at Worcestershire National Health Service Acute Trust escalates with the retail prices index each year during the contract period.

TREASURY

Landfill Tax

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on his plans to increase the landfill tax.

John Healey: The Finance Act 2003 increased the standard rate of landfill tax by 1 per tonne to 15 per tonne from 1 April 2004. Budget 2003 announced that the rate would be increased by 3 per tonne in 200506, and by at least 3 per tonne in the following years, to reach a medium to long-term rate of 35 per tonne.
	The lower rate of landfill tax, which applies to inactive waste, was frozen at 2 per tonne in Budget 2004.

Lone Parent Employment Rate

Denzil Davies: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the lone parent employment rate is as a percentage of the total employment rate in Wales.

Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from John Pullinger to Mr. Denzil Davies, dated 6 July 2004
	The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question about lone parent employment rate. I am replying in his absence. (181799)
	The table below gives the latest available information. Estimates are taken from the Office for National Statistics' Labour Force Survey (LFS). As with any sample survey, estimates from the LFS are subject to sampling variability.
	
		Employment of people of working age(8) resident in Wales3 months ending November 2003
		
			  Population Number in employment (9)Employment rate 
		
		
			 All persons 1,748 1,272 72.8 
			 Lone parents 102 56 54.9 
			 Lone parents as percentage of all persons 5.8 4.4  
		
	
	(8) Covers men aged 16 to 64 and women aged 16 to 59.
	(9) The employment rate is the number in employment expressed as a percentage of all working age people in the relevant group.

PFI/PPP Contracts

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many contracts have been let by his Department in each financial year since 200102 to (a) PriceWaterhouseCoopers, (b) Deloitte and Touche, (c) KPMG and (d) Ernst  Young for advising his Department on private finance initiative and public private partnership contracts; and what fees were paid in each case.

Ruth Kelly: No contracts for advice on private finance initiative or public private partnership contracts have been let by the core Treasury or the Debt Management Office in the period since 1 April 2001. However, during the period, PriceWaterhouseCoopers were paid 1,910 plus VAT for training courses on PFI/PPP.

Departmental Estate

Norman Lamb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the total floor space area of buildings owned or leased by (a) his Department and (b) agencies of the Department has been in each year since 1997 to date.

Ruth Kelly: The available information is set out as follows in the form in which the Chancellor's Departments and agencies have been able to compile it without having to incur disproportionate costs.
	At the commencement of April 2001, the Customs and Excise and the Inland Revenue transferred most of their estate to the STEPS contractor, and have occupied the space since then under separate PFI arrangements, as set out in the following table:
	
		
			  Net area occupied (sq m) 
		
		
			 Position at April 2001 1,470,366 
			 Year April 2002 1,489,821 
			 Year April 2003 1,490,986 
			 Year April 2004 1,511,449 
		
	
	Note:
	Information for earlier years is not available.
	The Office for National Statistics does not hold historic information on the size of its buildings but currently owns or leases property totalling 86,000 sq m.
	
		Royal Mint
		
			Sq m 
		
		
			  Owned Leased Total 
			 1997 41,349 1,000 42,349 
			 1998 4,139 1,000 42,349 
			 1999 46,093 1,000 47,093 
			 2000 46,093 1,000 47,093 
			 2001 46,093 1,000 47,093 
			 2002 46,137 1,000 47,137 
			 2003 46,137  46,137 
			 2004 46,233  46,233 
		
	
	
		Debt Management Office
		
			  Sq m 
		
		
			 1997 0 
			 1998 492.55 
			 1999 492.55 
			 2000 492.55 
			 2001 1,311.09 
			 2002 1,311.09 
			 2003 1,311.09 
			 2004 1,311.09 
		
	
	National Savings and Investments have three sites, the total figure of floor space owned or leased has remained constant since 1997 at 94,500 sq m.
	Data for the Government Actuaries Department are not available prior to July 2003. Since then, the Department has owned or leased 2,897 sq m.
	Office Government Commerce was established in 2000.
	
		Sq m
		
			  Residual freehold Residual leasehold Residual total Occupied freehold Occupied leasehold Total for all estate OGC and OGC BS 
		
		
			 19992000 190,089.0 91,131.0 281,220.0 1,042.9 14,761.0 297,023.90 
			 200001 169,937.2 63,229.2 233,166.4 1,042.9 14,761.0  1,709.2 (BS) 250,679.50 
			 200102 104,520.8 55,859.6 160,380.4 1,042.9 13,959.7  1,795.6 (BS) 177,178.60 
			 200203 0 47,179.3 47,179.3 1,042.9 13,324.8  1,795.6 (BS) 63,342.60 
			  0 20,146.2 20,146.2 1,042.9 13,324.8  1,795.6 (BS) 36,309.50 
		
	
	The use of space by the Treasury has remained constant since 1997 at 32,000.00 sq m.

Departmental Estate

Norman Lamb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what parts of his Department's estate will not be covered by the commitments set out in the Framework for Sustainable Development on the Government Estate.

John Healey: Virtually all of the estate is covered by the commitments with the minor exception of a small number of Customs' buildings for which information could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Empty Houses

Steve Webb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer for how many empty houses his Department is responsible; and if he will make a statement.

Ruth Kelly: The Valuation Office Agency is responsible for two empty houses.

Infant Mortality

Helen Jones: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the infant mortality rates in each health authority in England were in each of the last five years, broken down by social class.

Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from John Pullinger to Helen Jones, dated 5 July 2004
	The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent question asking what the infant mortality rates in each health authority in England were in each of the last five years, broken down by social class. I am replying in his absence. (181707)
	In 2001, Social Class was replaced by the National Statistics Socio-Economic Classification (NS-SEC) in all official statistics.
	The table below gives infant mortality rates in each of the Strategic Health Authorities in England for 1998 to 2002 by the National Statistics Social Economic Classification (NS-SEC) based on the father's occupation. The definition of infant mortality is deaths occurring to children under 1 year of age.
	In this table, figures for years prior to 2001 are based on standard methods of estimating NS-SEC 1 for these years. Figures presented are for a three category version of the classification and relate to the boundaries of Strategic Health Authorities as at May 2003.
	1 Office for National Statistics (2003) Implications of change in the United Kingdom social and occupational classifications in 2001 on infant mortality statistics, Health Statistics Quarterly, 17, 3340
	
		Infant mortality(10) numbers and rates by strategic health authority and NS-SEC (based on father's occupation)(11) 1998 to 2002
		
			  number of deaths 
			  1998 1999 
			 Strategic health authority Managerial professional Intermediate Routine Managerial professional Intermediate Routine 
		
		
			 Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire 34 29 54 33 16 56 
			 Bedford and Hertfordshire 36 13 42 27 19 40 
			 Essex 22 24 39 26 17 27 
			 North West London 45 26 40 34 25 46 
			 North Central London 31 13 31 27 13 43 
			 North East London 46 26 47 30 27 66 
			 South East London 40 31 49 40 21 47 
			 South West London 33 20 25 31 13 26 
			 Northumberland, Tyne and Wear 8 11 34 12 11 45 
			 County Durham and Tees Valley 18 9 28 12 9 31 
			 North and East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire 17 27 46 13 20 50 
			 West Yorkshire 39 30 98 34 24 88 
			 Cumbria and Lancashire 25 28 70 22 32 64 
			 Greater Manchester 34 28 85 33 32 101 
			 Cheshire and Merseyside 32 22 84 35 28 77 
			 Thames Valley 38 36 43 55 30 42 
			 Hampshire and Isle of Wight 23 14 35 30 25 33 
			 Kent and Medway 19 8 47 24 19 39 
			 Surrey and Sussex 40 32 32 44 21 44 
			 Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire 41 25 54 27 28 52 
			 South West Peninsula 10 24 25 11 22 30 
			 Dorset and Somerset 8 20 20 14 12 25 
			 South Yorkshire 21 17 47 26 13 37 
			 Trent 27 35 80 31 27 85 
			 Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Rutland 20 22 55 31 21 57 
			 Shropshire and Staffordshire 17 18 40 18 19 51 
			 Birmingham and the Black Country 49 35 113 43 34 123 
			 Coventry, Warwickshire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire 27 19 52 25 13 48 
			 England 800 642 1,415 788 591 1,473 
		
	
	
		number of deaths
		
			  2000 2001 
			 Strategic health authority Managerial professional Intermediate Routine and manual Managerial professional Intermediate Routine and manual 
		
		
			 Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire 26 15 45 20 25 38 
			 Bedford and Hertfordshire 31 12 45 32 22 37 
			 Essex 15 22 25 22 13 25 
			 North West London 48 29 27 46 25 52 
			 North Central London 20 9 29 25 10 24 
			 North East London 27 32 56 32 27 52 
			 South East London 23 30 33 38 25 44 
			 South West London 23 15 25 34 10 18 
			 Northumberland, Tyne and Wear 9 19 39 15 5 21 
			 County Durham and Tees Valley 15 13 33 15 11 38 
			 North and East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire 24 16 40 9 12 34 
			 West Yorkshire 30 31 112 35 32 69 
			 Cumbria and Lancashire 21 23 60 21 23. 54 
			 Greater Manchester 32* 36 86 40 21 81 
			 Cheshire and Merseyside 30 31 57 21 22 50 
			 Thames Valley 35 19 52 46 22 55 
			 Hampshire and Isle of Wight 29 16- 36 24 19 32 
			 Kent and Medway 27 11 25 18 12 23 
			 Surrey and Sussex -44 31 35 29 13 36 
			 Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire 20 29 53 35 30 47 
			 South West Peninsula 13 8 41 11 18 32 
			 Dorset and Somerset 12 11 22 18 12 24 
			 South Yorkshire 18 15 39 14 9 36 
			 Trent 39 22 76 28 28 62 
			 Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Rutland 31 8 42 17 18 33 
			 Shropshire and Staffordshire 12 17 65 17 18 41 
			 Birmingham and the Black Country 36 29 118 36 30 109 
			 Coventry, Warwickshire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire 21 12 43 17 19 32 
			 England 711 561 1,359 715 531 1,199 
		
	
	
		Number of deaths
		
			  2002 
			 Strategic health authority Managerial professional Intermediate Routine and manual 
		
		
			 Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire 25 17 38 
			 Bedford and Hertfordshire 29 16 31 
			 Essex 22 17 33 
			 North West London 34 31 42 
			 North Central London 31 8 13 
			 North East London 33 26 51 
			 South East London 23 31 42 
			 South West London 26 11 21 
			 Northumberland, Tyne and Wear 12 7 28 
			 County Durham and Tees Valley 9 5 30 
			 North and East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire 8 11 37 
			 West Yorkshire 21 30 99 
			 Cumbria and Lancashire 16 9 51 
			 Greater Manchester 34 23 67 
			 Cheshire and Merseyside 29. 18 50 
			 Thames Valley 29 23 37 
			 Hampshire and Isle of Wight 26 16 25 
			 Kent and Medway 24 19 38 
			 Surrey and Sussex 47 24 34 
			 Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire 27 23 31 
			 South West Peninsula 16 13 22 
			 Dorset and Somerset 18 9 20 
			 South Yorkshire 21 17 40 
			 Trent 36 26 84 
			 Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Rutland 20 14 34 
			 Shropshire and Staffordshire 16 13 49 
			 Birmingham and the Black Country 34 38 103 
			 Coventry, Warwickshire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire 21 12 33 
			 England 687 507 1,183 
		
	
	
		rates(12) (infant deaths per 1,000 live births)
		
			  1998 1999 
			 Strategic health authority Managerial professional Intermediate Routine and manual Managerial professional Intermediate Routine and manual 
		
		
			 Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire 4.1 6.0 5.3 3.9 4.1 5.8 
			 Bedford and Hertfordshire 4.1 3.3 6.1 3.0 4.9 6.1 
			 Essex 3.1 5.8 5.9 3.6 4.3 4.6 
			 North West London 4.6 5.9 5.8 3.3 5.7 7.1 
			 North Central London 4.4 4.3 7.0 4.0 4.6 10.4 
			 North East London 7.2 6.3 5.2 4.5 6.3 73 
			 South East London 5.2 7.3 7.9 5.2 5.0 7.8 
			 South West London 3.9 6.0 6.2 3.5 4.3 6.8 
			 Northumberland, Tyne and Wear 2.4 5.0 4.3 3.1 5.5 6.5 
			 County Durham and Tees Valley 6.3 5.4 4.2 4.1 6.4 4.8 
			 North and East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire 3.3 9.8 5.9 2.4 7.2 6.8 
			 West Yorkshire 5.3 7.8 7.6 4.9 6.6 70 
			 Cumbria and Lancashire 4.6 7.0 6.8 3.7 9.8 6.5 
			 Greater Manchester 4.3 5.7 6.1 3.9 7.1 7.2 
			 Cheshire and Merseyside 3.9 6.0 7.4 4.3 7.3 7.4 
			 Thames Valley 3.1 8.2 5.2 4.3 6.2 5.4 
			 Hampshire and Isle of Wight 2.9 3.6 5.0 3.7 7.0 4.7 
			 Kent and Medway 2.9 2.3 6.4 3.6 5.2 5.5 
			 Surrey and Sussex 3.0 5.6 4.1 3.3 3.6 6.0 
			 Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire 4.2 5.5 5.8 2.8 6.2 5.9 
			 South West Peninsula 2.3 6.3 3.9 2.5 6.4 4.7 
			 Dorset and Somerset 2.2 7.8 4.3 36 5.3 5.7 
			 South Yorkshire 6.1 8.3 6.2 7.3 7.7 5.1 
			 Trent 3.4 7.6 5.7 3.8 6.8 6.3 
			 Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Rutland 3.3 7.1 6.9 4.9 7.3 7.4 
			 Shropshire and Staffordshire 3.8 5.9 5.0 3.9 7.3 6.9 
			 Birmingham and the Black Country 6.9 7.4 7.9 6.0 7.8 8.6 
			 Coventry, Warwickshire. Herefordshire and Worcestershire 4.4 7.1 7.3 4.4 4.8 7.1 
			 England 4.1 6.2 6.0 3.9 6.0 6.6 
		
	
	
		rates(12) (infant deaths per 1,000 live births)
		
			  2000 2001 
			 Strategic health authority Managerial professional Intermediate Routine and manual Managerial professional Intermediate Routine and manual 
		
		
			 Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire 3.0 3.8 5.0 2.2 6.9 4.6 
			 Bedford and Hertfordshire 3.6 3.1 7.0 3.4 6.0 6.4 
			 Essex 2.1 6.1 4.3 3.1 3.2 4.4 
			 North West London 4.8 7.1 4.5 4.3 6.9 8.9 
			 North Central London 2.8 3.6 6.8 3.4 3.9 5.6 
			 North East London 41 7.9 6.5 4.8 6.0 6.1 
			 South East London 2.8 8.2 5.5 5.0 6.3 7.0 
			 South West London 2.6 4.8 6.6 3.8 3.6 4.8 
			 Northumberland, Tyne and Wear 2.5 9.6 5.7 4.4 2.5 3.2 
			 County Durham and Tees Valley 5.3 10.2 5.5 5.3 7.9 6.7 
			 North and East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire 4.5 5.8 5.8 1.7 4.8 5.0 
			 West Yorkshire 4.4 8.0 9.6 4.9 8.3 5.8 
			 Cumbria and Lancashire 3.9 6.5 6.5 3.8 6.9 5.9 
			 Greater Manchester 4.0 7.8 6.5 4.9 4.1 6.8 
			 Cheshire and Merseyside 3.7 8.7 5.4 2.6 6.0 5.2 
			 Thames Valley 2.8 4.2 7.2 3.7 5.6 7.7 
			 Hampshire and Isle of Wight 3.7 4.7 5.5 3.1 5.3 5.4 
			 Kent and Medway 4.1 3.4 3.8 2.6 4.1 3.7 
			 Surrey and Sussex 3.3 5.8 4.8 2.2 2.5 5.4 
			 Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire 2.1 6.5 6.1 3.8 7.2 5.7 
			 South West Peninsula 3.0 2.3 7.5 2.5 6.0 5.8 
			 Dorset and Somerset 3.0 4.6 5.5 4.2 5.5 6.3 
			 South Yorkshire 5.2 7.4 5.9 4.3 4.4 5.7 
			 Trent 4.7 4.9 6.4 3.4 6.7 5.4 
			 Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Rutland 5.1 2.7 5.4 2.7 7.1 4.4 
			 Shropshire and Staffordshire 2.6 7.3 9.2 3.7 8.7 5.5 
			 Birmingham and the Black Country 4.8 6.8 8.7 5.0 7.0 8.0 
			 Coventry, Warwickshire. Herefordshire and Worcestershire 3.6 4.5 6.6 3.0 7.5 4.9 
			 England 3.6 5.8 6.4 3.5 5.7 5.8 
		
	
	
		rates(12) (infant deaths per 1,000 live births)
		
			  2002 
			 Strategic health authority Managerial professional Intermediate Routine and manual 
		
		
			 Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire 3.0 4.2 4.5 
			 Bedford and Hertfordshire 3.2 4.5 5.3 
			 Essex 3.1 4.5 5.9 
			 North West London 3.0 7.9 7.3 
			 North Central London 4.3 2.9 3.4 
			 North East London 5.0 5.6 6.2 
			 South East London 2.9 7.7 7.7 
			 South West London 2.9 3.6 5.9 
			 Northumberland, Tyne and Wear 3.2 3.7 4.3 
			 County Durham and Tees Valley 3.0 3.6 5.3 
			 North and East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire 1.7 4.0 5.2 
			 West Yorkshire 3.0 7.4 8.5 
			 Cumbria and Lancashire 2.7 2.5 6.1 
			 Greater Manchester 3.9 4.5 5.6 
			 Cheshire and Merseyside 3.6 5.5 5.5 
			 Thames Valley 2.3 5.2 5.3 
			 Hampshire and Isle of Wight 3.2 4.4 4.4 
			 Kent and Medway 3.6 5.6 6.1 
			 Surrey and Sussex 3.6 4.5 5.1 
			 Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire 2.9 5.4 3.8 
			 South West Peninsula 3.4 4.1 3.9 
			 Dorset and Somerset 4.1 4.3 5.2 
			 South Yorkshire 6.2 6.8 6.9 
			 Trent 4.3 6.2 7.3 
			 Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Rutland 3.1 4.8 4.9 
			 Shropshire and Staffordshire 3.6 4.8 7.2 
			 Birmingham and the Black Country 4.6 7.9 8.0 
			 Coventry, Warwickshire. Herefordshire and Worcestershire 3.5 4.9 5.2 
			 England 3.2 5.2 5.9 
		
	
	(10) Covers deaths to all babies aged less than one year.
	(11) Information on father's occupation is not collected for births where the father was not present at the birth registration. Therefore, babies that were solely registered were not included.
	(12) Figures for live births are a 10 per cent. sample coded for father's occupation.

Private Finance Initiative

David Taylor: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he was consulted by the National Audit Office prior to the practical workshops in managing private finance initiative relationships launched on 22 June 2004, as part of the NAO's PFI/PPP Conference.

Paul Boateng: The Treasury was not consulted by the NAO prior to the practical workshops which took place at the NAO PFI/PPP conference on 22 June 2004.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Animal Rights Activists

Michael Fabricant: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many convictions there were in the last 24 months for illegal activities by animal rights activists;
	(2)  how many custodial sentences were issued in relation to offences committed by animal rights activists in the last 24 months.

Caroline Flint: It is not possible from the information collected centrally by the Home Office to identify whether a defendant in any particular case is an animal rights activist. However, we understand from the police that there were 117 arrests of animal rights activists during the first four months of 2004 compared with 15 arrests during the same period in 2003. The Home Office is working with the police and other agencies to improve availability of information in this area.

Animal Rights Activists

Jacqui Lait: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many arrests have been made by the National Crime Squad in each year since 2001 in relation to animal rights extremism.

Caroline Flint: The National Crime Squad provides specialist support and assistance to police forces. It is, however, individual police forces that lead on investigations within their areas, including investigations into the activities of animal rights extremists.
	The information collected centrally by the Home Office does not identify whether a defendant is an animal rights protestor. However we understand from the police that there have been at least 117 arrests of animal rights activists during the first four months of 2004 compared with 15 arrests during the same period in 2003. The Home Office is working with the police and other agencies to improve the availability of information in this area.

Botulinium

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he has taken to ensure that botulinium toxin for which licences to test on animals have been issued is used only for clinical purposes; and if he will make a statement.

Caroline Flint: All licence authorities granted under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986, for animal tests to meet regulatory requirements for use of this substance in humans, are expressly restricted to the testing of material manufactured and intended only for clinical uses. Compliance with licence authorities is monitored as part of the Home Office inspection programme. We believe that there is a product intended for apparent non-medical purposes, but as it is neither manufactured nor tested on animals in the UK, it is beyond the controls of the 1986 Act.

Bribery/Corruption

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many persons have been (a) arrested and (b) convicted for bribing foreign officials under the Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001.

Paul Goggins: Part 12 of the Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001, which came into force on 14 February 2002, did not introduce any new offences, but made two main changes to the law of corruption:
	Section 108 put beyond doubt that the existing offences of corruption apply to the bribery of foreign public office holders. This change mainly clarified existing law.
	Section 109 was the significant change: it gave our courts jurisdiction over certain offences of corruption when they are committed overseas by UK nationals or by bodies incorporated under UK law. The relevant offences are (a) common law offence of bribery, (b) the offences under section 2 of the Public Bodies Corrupt Practices Act 1889; and (c) the first two offences under section 1 of the Prevention of Corruption Act 1906.
	The Home Office Court Proceedings database does not contain details of the circumstances of offences for which prosecutions are brought, so the figures collected on these offences, cannot identify the status of the persons involved. The aggregate collection of arrest figures cannot be broken down into individual offences.

Bribery/Corruption

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what additional resources have been made available to the security and police services for enforcement of the provisions on bribing foreign officials under the Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001.

Paul Goggins: Implementation of Part 12 of the Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001 Act (ATCS) forms part of the National Policing Plan. Each Police Authority and Chief Constable will take the National Policing Plan into account when drawing up their Local Policing Plans. No specific resources have been allocated for the enforcement of Part 12 of the ATCS.
	However, we have put significant extra resources into the police service in England and Wales over the last few years. Since 200001 total provision for policing has risen by over 30 per cent.

Bribery/Corruption

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many allegations of overseas bribery are on the national register held by the National Criminal Intelligence Service; and what action is being taken on each.

Caroline Flint: There are currently 18 recorded cases held on the register, eight of which either pre-dated or were not relevant under the Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001.
	Six cases have been referred to the Metropolitan police and Serious Fraud Office for investigation, and four cases are under investigation by the Ministry of Defence police.

Bribery/Corruption

Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the whole-time equivalent staff resources of (a) the National Criminal Intelligence Service, (b) the City of London Police Fraud Squad and (c) the fraud teams of the Metropolitan Police and their predecessors were in (a) 1997, (b) 2001 and (c) on the latest date for which figures are available.

Caroline Flint: The information is as follows:
	
		
			  Staff 
		
		
			 National Criminal Intelligence Service:  
			 1997 (based on April data) (13)562 
			 2001 (based on April data) (14)2676 
			 2004 (projected figure for August 2004)(15) (14)1,108 
			 City of London Fraud Squad:  
			 1994(16) 107 
			 2001 65 
			 2004 85 
			   
			 Metropolitan Police Fraud Squad (and subsequent derivatives)(17) 
			 End of March 
			 1997  
			 Police officers 137.0 
			 Police staff 45.79 
			 2001  
			 Police officers 211.68 
			 Police staff 51.66 
			 2004  
			 Police officers 273.98 
			 Police staff 81.10 
		
	
	(13) The 1997 figures are given as a total and do not exclude attachments. Prior to 1 April 1998, the NCIS structure was different and the demarcation between directly employed, seconded and attached staff was different to post April 1998.
	(14) Excluding attachments.
	(15) Projected figures have been provided as they better reflect changes that are currently taking place within the organisation. The April figure alone would not be relevant for the majority of the year.
	(16) Approximately the same as in 1997exact figure not available.
	(17) The nature of work undertaken by the MPS Fraud Departments has altered as external and internal organisational changes have taken place over time and, as a consequence, figures may not be directly comparable.

Crime/Policing (Lancashire)

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many drug-related offences were recorded in each of the last 10 years for which figures are available in (a) Chorley and (b) Lancashire;
	(2)  how many people were arrested for drug offences and prosecuted in each of the last 10 years for which figures are available in (a) Chorley and (b) Lancashire.

Caroline Flint: Recorded crime figures include statistics on drugs offences, such as possession, and on acquisitive crimes, such as burglary, but do not record whether the latter are related to an offender's drug habits.
	The NEW-ADAM research programme of interviewing and drug testing those arrested by the police sheds some light on the links between drugs and crime, although the conclusions do not relate specifically to Lancashire and the North West region. Data from 16 locations (19992001) indicate that users of heroin and cocaine and crack reported committing an average of 442 acquisitive crimes in the last year. This was nearly six times higher than for non-drug users. Almost half of those arrested for property offences tested positive for opiates and/or cocaine.
	The total number of acquisitive crimes recorded by the police in Lancashire and the North West region in 200103 are set out in Table 1 (data are not available for Chorley, or for Lancashire and the North West prior to 2001). Acquisitive crimes are burglary, theft, handling stolen goods and robbery.
	
		Table 1: Acquisitive crimes recorded by the police, 200103
		
			  Acquisitive crimes 
			  200102 200203 
		
		
			 Lancashire 98,559 89,993 
			 North West 598,665 588,566 
		
	
	Sources:
	Crime in England and Wales 2001/2002 Home Office Statistical Bulletin 07/02.
	Crime in England and Wales 2002/2003 Home Office Statistical Bulletin 07/03.
	Information on the persons found guilty or cautioned for drug offences by Lancashire police in each of the last 10 years are given in Table 2. Data are not available for Chorley. Data for 2001 and 2002 will be published on 15 July 2004.
	
		Table 2: Persons found guilty or cautioned for drug offences by Lancashire police, 1990 to 2000
		
			  Number of persons 
		
		
			 1990 736 
			 1991 705 
			 1992 899 
			 1993 1,688 
			 1994 2,173 
			 1995 2,798 
			 1996 2,824 
			 1997 3,485 
			 1998 4,154 
			 1999 3,448 
			 2000 2,980 
		
	
	These data are taken from the annual Home Office Statistical Bulletin. These are available on the RDS website and in the Library.

Criminal Justice Act

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the implementation dates for each measure contained in the Criminal Justice Act 2003.

Paul Goggins: The dates on which various provisions of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 have been commenced are set out as follows:
	 20 November 2003:
	General provisions in Part 14.
	Enforcement of regulations implementing.
	Community legislation on endangered species.
	18 December 2003:
	Effect of life sentence.
	20 January 2004:
	Stop and search for criminal damage offences.
	Use of civilians to search and enter.
	Street bail.
	Increased use of telephones to review police detention.
	Increased limits on period of detention without charge.
	Reduced burden on recording property of a person in police detention.
	New arrangements for amending PACE Codes.
	Access to Parole Board for offenders transferred to mental hospital.
	Increased limit on detention without charge of terrorist suspects.
	Outraging public decency made triable either way.
	Limiting civil proceedings for trespass to the person brought by an offender.
	22 January 2004:
	Minimum sentence for firearms offences.
	26 January 2004:
	Intermittent custody.
	29 January 2004:
	Making possession of cannabis and identity fraud offences arrestable.
	Charging or release of persons in police detention.
	Removal of requirement to substantiate information on oath.
	Increased penalties in trafficking in Class C drugs.
	Increase in penalty for fraudulently obtaining a driving licence.
	27 February 2004:
	Sentencing Guidelines Council.
	Increased penalties for driving offences resulting in death.
	Parenting orders and referral orders.
	5 April 2004:
	Taking of fingerprints and DMA from those arrested but not charged.
	Grant and conditional of bail.
	Extending time for bringing case under S6 of the Bail Act.
	Change in jurisdiction of Court of Appeal to hear appeals against bail conditions.
	Abolishing High Court jurisdiction to hear bail cases.
	Restriction on bail for drug users.
	Use of documents to refresh witnesses memory.
	Jury service.
	Extending MAPPA arrangements.
	Disqualification from working with children.
	Individual support orders.
	14 June 2004:
	Early release and removal of foreign national prisoners.
	3 July 2004:
	Conditional cautions.
	1 September 2004:
	Extension of investigations by the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC).
	Power to substitute conviction of an alternative offence on appeal.
	No final decision has been taken regarding the dates of commencement of the remaining provisions of the Act.

Criminal Justice Pilot Projects

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the criminal justice pilot projects being undertaken, broken down by (a) Probation Area and (b) statutory basis.

Paul Goggins: The tables A and B provide the following information.
	Pilot projects for which the National Probation Service (NPS) has the lead, or shared lead, currently in operation, and their distribution among the 42 NPS Areas in England and Wales. The Intermittent Custody sentence and the Presumption Against Bail Pilot are contained within the Criminal Justice Act 2003; no other NPS led pilot project has a statutory reference.
	A schedule of current Central Initiatives Pilots, covering arrest to disposal, maintained by the Criminal Justice System (CJS) Reform Programme Office
	
		Table A: National Probation Service pilot projectsJune 2004
		
			 Name of pilot project Pilot projectsarea coverage Statutory reference 
		
		
			 Prospectsresettlement pilot for persistent drug users Lancashire, Devon and Cornwall, Avon and Somerset, Merseyside  
			 Circles of Support and Accountability HampshireHampton Trust Thames ValleyQuakers Potential resettlement in all 42 areasLucy Faithfull Foundation (for former members of Wolvercote Clinic)  
			 Leisurewatch (the Derwent Initiative) Northumbria, Surrey, Greater Manchester, Essex  
			 Stop it Now! (Lead charityLucy Faithfull Foundation) Surrey, Derbyshire, Thames Valley, London  
			 Wolvercote Outreach (Lucy Faithfull Foundation) Potential catchment area of offenders from all 42 areas, and source of advice to all 42 areas  
			 Young Sex Offenders (Lucy Faithfull Foundation) Advice to all 42 NPS areas working with young people  
			 Incest and Sexual Abuse Survivors Nottinghamshire  
			 Staffordshire Accommodation ProjectIntensive Floating Support Scheme for Dangerous Offenders Staffordshire  
			 Community Domestic Violence Programme Merseyside, Cheshire, Thames Valley  
			 Employment Pathfinder Phase 2 London, North Wales, Leicestershire and Rutland, Norfolk, West Yorkshire, Devon and Cornwall, Lincolnshire  
			 Approved Premises Pathfinder Bedfordshire, West Midlands, Northamptonshire, Merseyside, Lancashire, Greater Manchester  
			 Intensive Control and Change Programme London, Humberside, Northumbria, Nottinghamshire, West Yorkshire, South Wales, Hampshire, Lancashire, West Mercia, Cambridgeshire, Lincolnshire  
			 Intensive Supervision and Monitoring Schemes London, South Wales, Northumbria, Staffordshire, Avon and Somerset, Leicestershire, Humberside, Sussex, Cambridgeshire, West Midlands, Nottinghamshire, Merseyside  
			 Intermittent Custody Pilots Derbyshire, Greater Manchester, Humberside, Lancashire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, Staffordshire, South Yorkshire, West Midlands, West Yorkshire Criminal Justice Act 2003 Part 12SentencingChapter 3Section 183Intermittent Custody 
			 The Use of Polygraph Examinations in Risk Management of Sex Offenders Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire, Devon and Cornwall, Lancashire, Leicestershire, London, Greater Manchester, Northamptonshire, Northumbria, Thames Valley, West Midlands  
			 Benefit Sanctions Pilots Teeside, Derbyshire, West Midlands, Hertfordshire  
			 Presumption against bail pilot (DSD-CJIP) Nottinghamshire, Greater Manchester Criminal Justice Act 2003Part 2Section 19 
			 Miscarriages of Justice Project (funded by NPD) LondonRoyal Courts of Justice Citizens Advice Bureau  
			 Workload Measurement Tool (an internal NPS/NPD management pilot project, that is not offender based) Greater Manchester, Wiltshire, Gwent, North Yorkshire, Hertfordshire  
		
	
	
		Table B: Central Initiatives CJS Reform Programme Office
		
			 Name of pilot project Pilot projectsarea coverage 
		
		
			 Early Advice and Charging Programme Avon and Somerset, Greater Manchester, Humberside, Kent, Lancashire, London, Merseyside, Northumbria, Nottinghamshire, South Yorkshire, Thames Valley, West Midlands, West Yorkshire 
			 ETMP Prototypes Greater Manchester, London, West Midlands, West Yorkshire, Bedfordshire, North Wales 
			 No Witness No JusticeCPS/ACPO Avon and Somerset, Greater Manchester, Humberside, Kent, Lancashire, London, Merseyside, Northumbria, Nottinghamshire, South Yorkshire, Thames Valley, West Midlands, West Yorkshire, Essex, Gwent, North Wales 
			 Conditional Cautions Avon and Somerset, Lancashire, Northumbria, South Yorkshire, Thames Valley, Hertfordshire, West Mercia 
			 Defender Management South Yorkshire, Cambridgeshire, Cheshire, Essex, Gwent, North Wales 
			 Special Measures for Victims and Witnesses London, Nottinghamshire, South Yorkshire, Devon and Cornwall, Norfolk, South Wales 
			 Devolution of Witness Funding Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Surrey 
			 Intermittent Custody Derbyshire, Greater Manchester, Humberside, Lancashire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, Staffordshire, South Yorkshire, West Midlands, West Yorkshire 
			 EnforcementFine Enforcement Greater Manchester, London, Merseyside, Thames Valley, West Midlands, West Yorkshire 
			 EnforcementFailed to Attend Warrants South Wales 
			 EnforcementDirect Entry of Warrants on PNC Staffordshire 
			 EnforcementMulti Agency Enforcement Team Leicestershire 
			 Drug Testing Greater Manchester, Humberside, London, Merseyside, Nottinghamshire, West Yorkshire, Cleveland

Cyber Terrorist Attacks

Michael Fabricant: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps his Department is taking to prevent cyber terrorist attacks on mobile telephony systems; and if he will make a statement.

Hazel Blears: The National Infrastructure Security Co-ordination Centre (NISCC) is continually monitoring the threat of electronic attack against the UK Critical National Infrastructure (CNI) including attacks on mobile telephony systems.
	NISCC established and operates the Network Security Information Exchange, covering telecommunications, data and mobile communications. NISCC recently issued technical guidance to CNI partners on mobile telephony, designed to combat vulnerabilities.

Cycling

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 24 June 2004, Official Report, column 1507W, on cycling, what publicity campaigns he has undertaken to encourage pedestrians who are knocked over by cyclists on footpaths and pavements to report the incident to the police.

Caroline Flint: We have undertaken no specific publicity on this issue and do not consider a dedicated national campaign appropriate. Police and local authorities may take such actions in particular areas if there is a special problem.

Cycling

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what guidance he has offered to police forces on (a) the prevention of cyclists using footpaths and pavements and (b) the steps to be taken against cyclists who use footpaths and pavements.

Caroline Flint: Chief officers of police are best placed to assess the nature and cause of cycling offences locally and to decide the most appropriate response.
	The Government do not condone irresponsible cycling and will continue to promote safe behaviour on bicycles. To help the police with enforcement we have made it possible for Community Support Officers (CSOs) appointed under the Police Reform Act 2002 to issue 30 fixed penalty notices for cycling inconsiderately or irresponsibly on pavements.
	The cycling infrastructure and environment are currently under improvement as a result of our National Cycling strategy. We expect this improvement to reduce the incentive to cycle on the pavement.

Databases

Mark Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many individual records have been added to the national DNA database under section 10 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003.

Caroline Flint: It is estimated that 3,686 new DNA profiles taken from individuals have been added to the national DNA database since 5 April 2004. Information is not available, however, about how many of these were obtained as a result of the new powers under Section 10 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003.

Databases

Mark Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what meetings the Police Information Technology Organisation has held with representatives of foreign Governments and law enforcement agencies in relation to the sharing of information held on their respective databases in the last two years.

Caroline Flint: Exchanges of information with foreign governments and law enforcement agents are governed by Memorandum of Understanding negotiated by the Home Office and the Law Enforcement agencies concerned. The bulk of these exchanges are facilitated through Interpol or Europol although there are some bilateral arrangements with a major allies, for example US and Canada.
	The Police Information Technology Organisation (PITO) role is to ensure that the technical mechanism to support these exchanges is in place. At present the majority of bulk information exchanges are undertaken via magnetic media. At present there is no interactive access by any foreign government to national databases owned or controlled by UK police forces.

Drug Misuse/Treatment

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what public funds were spent on tackling drugs misuse in the constituency of Tamworth in (a) 199798 and (b) 200304.

Caroline Flint: Breakdown of financial allocation to local constituencies is not available in the form requested as funding is allocated to Drug Action Team (DAT) areas. In this case Staffordshire DAT which covers; Tamworth, Staffordshire Moorlands, Burton, Cannock Chase, Lichfield, Newcastle-under-Lyne, South Staffordshire and Stone.
	The period for 199798 is prior to the formation of the National Drug Strategy and there is no locally held information on funding available for that financial year.
	In 200304 the total drugs allocation for Staffordshire DAT was 4,387,767. In order to ensure consistency, figures supplied are based on funding streams associated with the National Drug Strategy that are readily verifiable. These funding streams are specifically targeted at tackling the harm caused to individuals, families and communities by the misuse of drugs. Other mainstream funding is made available at a local level, this varies both in amount and origin and as a result it is not possible to provide robust financial information.
	
		200304
		
			   
		
		
			 Partnership Capacity 100,224 
			 Treatment Pooled Budget 2,586,000 
			 Through Care After Care Pump Priming 35,000 
			 Building Safer Communities(18) 1,032,206 
			 Young People 634,337 
			 Total 4,387,767 
		
	
	(18) Contains non-drug elements.

Drug Misuse/Treatment

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what measures he will introduce to reduce waiting times for drug treatment.

Melanie Johnson: I have been asked to reply.
	In December 2001, the National Treatment Agency (NTA) set waiting time targets, against which drug action teams are held to account. Since then, average waiting times have fallen substantially in all treatment categories, from between five to 11 weeks in December 2001, to two to four weeks in May 2004.
	The NTA and the National Institute for Mental Health in England have developed a national programme to improve access to treatment for drug misusers. Their joint programme focuses on implementing tools and techniques for reducing waiting times that have already proved to be successful elsewhere in the health and social care system, both in the United Kingdom and abroad.

Drugs Strategy

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the Government expect to publish its next drugs strategy report.

Caroline Flint: On 3 December 2002, the Government published their Updated Drug Strategy setting out progress made in tackling drug misuse since 1998. It also presents revised targets to 2008 and the range of policies and interventions planned to achieve them. A copy is in the Library.
	Recent progress against the Updated Drug Strategy was published as part of the Home Office Departmental Report 2004 on 30 April 2004. A copy is in the Library.

EU Accession States (Driving Offences)

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what advice has been given to (a) local police forces and (b) the Crown Prosecution Service about the prosecution of those from the new EU member states who commit driving and other motoring offences.

Caroline Flint: The legislation on driving and other aspects of motoring applies to persons from the new EU member states as it does to other drivers. Enforcement of the law is a matter for the police, who will decide what approach is most effective in different circumstances. It is then for the Crown Prosecution Service to reach a decision as to prosecution. We recognise there are practical difficulties if someone from another country returns home before a trial and are currently examining possible ways of meeting this problem.

European Court of Human Rights (Ezeh and Connors)

Jeff Ennis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the issue of compensation regarding the release of prisoners following the Ezeh and Connors ruling by the European Court of Human Rights has been determined.

Paul Goggins: The European Court of Human Rights delivered its final judgment in the case of Ezeh and Connors on 9 October 2003 when it confirmed the decision not to award them compensation for the additional days that they served in prison as a result of the disciplinary punishments. Accordingly, the Prison Service does not propose to compensate those finding themselves in a similar position.

Football Violence

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were arrested in Lancashire following the England v France football match; and at what capacity cells were used on that evening.

Caroline Flint: I understand from Lancashire Constabulary that there were 57 arrests in the region for public order offences following the England/France match. By 11pm that night they had 128 cells free with a further 27 around the country which could be opened if the need arose.

Home Detention Curfew Scheme

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners were (a) eligible for and (b) released under the home detention curfew scheme in each prison region during January and February.

Paul Goggins: holding answer 23 March 2004
	The table shows the number of sentenced prisoners in the prison population at 31 December 2003 and 31 January 2004 with a sentence length of three months to less than four years, whose Home Detention Curfew (HDC) eligibility date will fall in the next month.
	Some prisoners with a sentence length of three months to less than four years do not qualify for HDC because of the nature of their current or previous offences.
	In addition, the figures also exclude a small number of prisoners in the population who are on remand at the end of the previous month, but subsequently get sentenced to a custodial sentence suitable for HOC and whose HDC eligibility date falls in the month. This occurs when they have spent a significant period on remand.
	
		Number of sentenced prisoners within relevant sentence length bands, and number released under HOC, by month andPrison Service management area
		
			  January 2004 February 2004 
			  Number of prisoners with sentences of 3 months to less than 4 years(19) Number released on HDC Number or prisoners with sentences of 3 months to less than 4 years(19) Number released on HDC 
		
		
			 North East 175 36 154 24 
			 North West 418 181 475 170 
			 Yorkshire and Humberside 428 176 349 143 
			 East Midlands (North) 202 69 200 76 
			 Wales 111 41 116 42 
			 West Midlands 429 167 400 140 
			 East Midlands (South) 212 73 227 102 
			 Eastern 309 111 301 95 
			 South West 359 96 359 105 
			 Thames Valley, Hampshire and IOW 174 70 204 67 
			 London 292 47 267 69 
			 Kent, Surrey and Sussex 350 133 334 142 
			 Female 331 146 316 126 
			 Juvenile 10 5 3 0 
			 High Security 206 59 216 60 
			 Contracted Out 341 77 387 80 
		
	
	(19) Count of sentenced prisoners whose HDC eligibility date falls in the corresponding month.
	A prisoner may be in one region at the end of the month when the number within the relevant sentence band is calculated and in another region when released. The high security estate includes a number of local prisons such as Manchester and Durham.

Informants

Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what standard police operating procedures apply in relation to the use of informants.

Caroline Flint: The use of covert human intelligence sources, including informants, is regulated by Part II of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA). Guidance on the authorisation of the conduct or use of covert human intelligence sources is provided in the statutory Code of Practice, which is published on the Home Office web site. The Association of Chief Police Officers of England, Wales and Northern Ireland has produced a Manual of Standards for the conduct and use of covert human intelligence sources. Publication of that manual, which includes information about operational policing procedures and techniques, is restricted but has been made available to the Surveillance Commissioners who oversee Part II of RIPA.

LD50 Procedure

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent research he has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated on the use of the LD50 procedure; and if he will make a statement.

Caroline Flint: The Home Office has not commissioned any research on the use of the LD50 procedure in animal testing. However, we do evaluate relevant analysis and technical progress reported in the scientific literature, and consider the outputs of organisations like the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Indeed, following the adoption of OECD Guidelines 420, 423 and 424, and the deletion of the less refined OECD Guideline 401, no project licence authorities for lethal testing using the OECD 401 Guideline have been granted under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986.
	Summary details of acute lethal toxicity tests undertaken are published in annual statistics. The last such publication is entitled Statistics of Scientific Procedures on Living Animals Great Britain 2002 (CM 5886) and is available in the Library.

Motoring Offences

Mark Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 8 June 2004, Official Report, column 326W, on motoring offences, if he will list the non-notifiable offences included under offence code 825/90; and how many non-notifiable offences were counted towards the offences brought to justice target in 200304.

Paul Goggins: The table describes the non-notifiable offences included within Home Office offence code 825/90.
	The offence code 825/90 (miscellaneous motoring offences), which was included in the 200304 offences brought to justice targets for each CJS area, includes the non-notifiable offences described in the table alongside the notifiable offence tampering with motor vehicles  (Road Traffic Act 1988 S.25). From April 2004 onwards this notifiable offence has been given a separate code and the remaining non-notifiable offences within 825/90 have been excluded from the 200405 offences brought to justice targets.
	It is not possible to give a separate figure for the number of non-notifiable offences within the 825/90 code that were counted towards the offences brought to justice target, as in 200304 they could not be separated from the notifiable offence of tampering with motor vehicles. The latest available, provisional figures show that an estimated 50,500 825/90 offences counted towards the total number of 1.1 million offences brought to justice in England and Wales during 2003.
	
		Non-notifiable offences included under Home Office offence code 825/90 during 200304
		
			 Legislation Brief description of offence 
		
		
			 Road Traffic (Foreign Vehicles) Act 1972 Sec 3(1)(a) and (b) Driving a goods vehicle while a prohibition operative 
			 Road Traffic Act 1988 Sec 123(4) Giving paid instruction when not a registered or licensed person 
			 Road Traffic Act 1988 Sec 13(1) Promoting or taking part in an unauthorised rally 
			 Road Traffic Act 1988 Sec 135(2) Falsely claiming to be a registered driving instructor 
			 Road Traffic Act 1988 Sec 165(3) Failing to produce goods vehicle plating or test certificate 
			 Road Traffic Act 1988 Sec 17(2), 18(4) Offences in connection with selling etc. protective headgear 
			 Road Traffic Act 1988 Sec 172(3), 172(4) Person keeping vehicle failing to give driver's name and address on demand 
			 Road Traffic Act 1988 Sec 177 Falsely representing to be a vehicle testing examiner 
			 Road Traffic Act 1988 Sec 34 (1) Driving on Common Land 
			 Road Traffic Act 1988 Sec 71 (1) Driving a goods vehicle while a prohibitive operative 
			 Road Traffic Act 1988 Sec 75(5) Selling etc. unroadworthy vehicle or trailer 
			 Road Traffic Act 1988 Sec 76(1) and (3) Fitting or selling defective or unsuitable vehicle parts 
			 Road Traffic Act 1988 Sec 83 Selling etc. wrongly made tail lamps or reflectors 
			 Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 Sch 12 para 3(5) Removal of/interference with fixed penalty notice 
			 Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 Sec 104 Interference with immobilisation device 
			 Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 Sec 112(4) Failing to give information as to identity of driver 
			 Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 Sec 117 Wrongful use of disabled person's badge 
			 Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 Sec 35A(2) Interference with apparatus for collecting charges 
			 Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 Sec 47(1) Offences by non-drivers against parking place orders 
			 Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 Sec 47(3) Tampering with parking meter with intent to defraud 
			 Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regs 1986 Reg 89 Leaving trailer at rest without being braked 
			 Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regs 1986, Reg 22 Trailer not equipped with suitable/sufficient spring 
			 Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regs 1986, Reg 33 Breaches of regs specifically related to land tractors' mirrors 
			 Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regs 1986, Reg 83 Various trailer offences 
			 Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regs 1986, Reg 86 Towing vehicle with too long a tow rope 
			 Road Vehicles (Registration and Licensing) Regs 1971 Reg 45b Fail to produce vehicle for weighing

Motoring Offences

Gwyneth Dunwoody: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects the review of road traffic offences to be published; and if he will make a statement on the reasons for the delay in its publication.

Caroline Flint: The review of road traffic offences is nearing completion. However there are a number of difficult issues under consideration before a consultation paper can be published. The Government are working towards publication at the earliest opportunity.

Motorway Patrols

Diana Organ: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to introduce civilian traffic officers in patrolling motorways.

Caroline Flint: Home Office and Department for Transport Ministers have agreed that the Highways Agency should appoint its own civilian traffic officers who will relieve the police of certain responsibilities with regard to the management of accidents and other major incidents on the motorways. Provision for the statutory powers required for them to exercise the full range of their proposed functions is made in the Traffic Management Bill currently before Parliament. Responsibility for law enforcement and accident investigation will remain with the police.

National Offender Management Service

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether a risk assessment has been carried out in respect of the National Offender Management Service; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Goggins: A Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) is being completed as part of the work to prepare for the planned Correctional Services Bill. Additionally, the National Offender Management Service Change Programme governance has defined and operates a risk management approach for the overall Change Programme.

Police Stations

Mark Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police stations have (a) closed and (b) opened in each police force authority area in each year since 1979; and if he will make a statement.

Hazel Blears: A full survey of police stations in each police authority area, closed or opened from 199293 to 200203, was undertaken in 2003. I have placed in the Library a copy of the results. Data are not available for years before 199293.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Benefit Take-up

Hugo Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what percentage of (a) pensioners and (b) disabled people in East Devon took up their full benefits entitlement in each of the past three years.

Malcolm Wicks: The information requested is unavailable.
	National estimates of take-up of income-related benefits among the entitled pensioner population can be found in the DWP publication Income Related Benefits Estimates of Take-Up. Copies of the report are available in the Library.

Child Support Agency

Anthony Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when the child support maintenance assessment for Mrs. Julie Hallett of Brixham will be prepared; what the reasons are for the delay; and if he will make a statement.

Chris Pond: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive, Mr. Doug Smith. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
	Letter from Doug Smith to Mr. Anthony Steen, dated 7 July 2004
	In reply to your recent Parliamentary question about the Child Support Agency the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive.
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when the child support maintenance assessment for Mrs. Julie Hallett of Brixham will be prepared; what the reasons are for the delay; and if he will make a statement.
	As individual cases are confidential, I will write to you separately about this case. This is in line with paragraph 12, part 2 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.

Child Support Agency

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many manual payments have been required in relation to cases under the (a) old and (b) new Child Support Agency systems.

Chris Pond: holding answer 1 July 2004
	The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive, Mr. Doug Smith. He will write to my right hon. Friend with the information requested.
	Letter from Doug Smith to Mr. Frank Field, dated 7 July 2004
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many manual payments have been required in relation to cases under the (a) old and (b) new Child Support Agency systems.
	In the year to 31 March 2004 the Agency made 3,376,325 payments through its existing computer system and 496,037 payments through its new computer system. In the same period the Agency made 758 payments manually for cases on the existing computer system and 2,602 payments for cases on the new computer system.

Child Support Agency

John Lyons: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many cases relating to clients in Strathkelvin and Bearsden have moved from the old to the new system within the Child Support Agency.

Chris Pond: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive, Mr. Doug Smith. He will write to my hon. Friend with the information requested.
	Letter from Doug Smith to Mr. John Lyons, dated 7 July 2004
	In reply to your recent Parliamentary question about the Child Support Agency the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive.
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many cases relating to clients in Strathkelvin and Bearsden have moved from the old to the new system within the Child Support Agency. (181992)
	I regret that this information is not available. I can however say that nationally, in the year to 31 March 2004, the records for around 326,000 cases moved from the old to the new computer system.

Child Support Agency

John Lyons: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many manual payments have been made to clients in Strathkelvin and Bearsden as a result of the changeover to the new Child Support Agency system.

Chris Pond: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive, Mr. Doug Smith. He will write to the my hon. Friend with the information requested.
	Letter from Doug Smith to Mr. John Lyons, dated 7 July 2004
	In reply to your recent Parliamentary question about the Child Support Agency the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive.
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many manual payments have been made to clients in Strathkelvin  Bearsden as a result of the changeover to the new Child Support Agency system.
	I regret that this information is not available. I can however say that nationally, in the year to 31 March 2004, the Agency made 3,376,325 payments through its existing computer system and 496,037 payments through its new computer system. In the same period the Agency made 758 payments manually for cases on the existing computer system and 2602 payments for cases on the new computer system.

Departmental Staff

Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many full-time equivalent staff there have been in (a) his Department and (b) agencies of the Department for each year from 1997 to date.

Maria Eagle: The information is published annually in the Civil Service Statistics. Copies are available in the Library and on the Cabinet Office Civil Service Statistics website at www.civil-service.gov.uk/statistics.

Guarantee Credit/Savings Credit

David Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to his answer of 14 June, Official Report, column 728W, on pension credit, how many (a) individuals and (b) households he expects to be eligible for (i) guarantee credit only, (ii) savings credit and guarantee credit and (iii) savings credit only in (A) 200405, (B) 200506, (C) 200607 and (D) 200809.

Malcolm Wicks: The information is not available in precisely the form requested, but projections based on the available data are given in the following tables 1 and 2. The figures include a number of assumptions which will be sensitive to change over the next 10 years.
	
		Table 1: Projection of pensioners eligible for pension credit (households)
		
			  Guarantee element only Guarantee element and savings element Savings element only Pension credit 
		
		
			 20042005 950,000 1,400,000 1,200,000 3,550,000 
			 20052006 850,000 1,500,000 1,250,000 3,650,000 
			 20062007 850,000 1,550,000 1,350,000 3,750,000 
			 20072008 850,000 1,600,000 1,450,000 3,900,000 
			 20082009 900,000 1,650,000 1,550,000 4,050,000 
		
	
	
		Table 2: Projection of pensioners eligible for pension credit (individuals)
		
			  Guarantee element only Guarantee element and savings element Savings element only Pension credit 
		
		
			 20042005 1,250,000 1,700,000 1,700,000 4,650,000 
			 20052006 1,150,000 1,850,000 1,800,000 4,800,000 
			 20062007 1,150,000 1,900,000 1,850,000 4,900,000 
			 20072008 1,150,000 1,950,000 2,050,000 5,150,000 
			 20082009 1,200,000 2,000,000 2,150,000 5,350,000 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Projections with this breakdown are only available for private households. In addition to pensioners in private households, there are approximately 200,000 pensioners in care homes eligible for pension credit. The figures in Tables 1 and 2 above do not include pensioners in care homes.
	2. Estimates for private households and individuals in 200405 are based on the Family Resources Survey data for 200203 projected forward to 200405 to reflect changes in taxes, benefit rates and pensioners' incomes.
	3. For projections beyond 200405 it has been assumed that pensioners' incomes will rise in line with average earnings; the guarantee credit will be uprated in line with average earnings; and the savings credit threshold will be uprated in line with prices.
	4. It has also been assumed that the eligible population will tend to rise in line with the general projected growth of the pensioner population.
	5. Projections have been rounded to the nearest 50,000 cases, are subject to a wide margin of error and should be used as broad indications of the likely eligible population only.
	6. A pensioner household is defined as single persons aged 60 or over and couples where at least one partner is aged 60 or over. Individuals are single pensioners with eligibility and both partners in a couple with eligibility.

Empty Homes

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions for how many empty houses his Department is responsible; and if he will make a statement.

Chris Pond: The Department for Work and Pensions has no houses on its estate nor is it responsible for any housing.

Ministerial Visits

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will list visits made by each Minister in the Department between December 2003 and April 2004, broken down by (a) date, (b) constituency visited and (c) cost.

Andrew Smith: The information requested by the hon. Member in relation to dates and constituencies visited is set out as follows. Information in relation to the cost of visits is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	The Government publish on an annual basis the total costs of all ministerial overseas travel and a list of all visits by Cabinet Ministers costing in excess of 500. Information for 200304 is currently being collected and will be published as soon as it is ready.
	
		Right hon. Andrew Smith MP
		
			  Constituencies visited 
		
		
			 13 January 2004 Bradford South 
			 19 January 2004 Derby South 
			 19 January 2004 West Derbyshire 
			 2 February 2004 Brighton Pavillion 
			 8 March 2004 Oxford West and Abingdon 
			 9 March 2004 Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire 
			 27 April 2004 Blackpool North and Fleetwood 
			 27 April 2004 Denton and Reddish 
		
	
	
		Malcolm Wicks MP
		
			  Constituencies visited 
		
		
			 3 December 2003 Darlington 
			 3 December 2003 Tyne Bridge 
			 8 January 2004 Northampton North 
			 22 January 2004 Sheffield Central 
			 5 February 2004 Brighton Pavillion 
		
	
	
		Des Browne MP
		
			  Constituencies visited 
		
		
			 4 December 2003 Edinburgh North and Leith 
			 8 December 2003 Wythenshawe and Sale East 
			 11 December 2003 Aberavon 
			 11 December 2003 Bridgend 
			 6 January 2004 Derby South 
			 15 January 2004 Hammersmith and Fulham 
			 20 January 2004 Bromley and Chislehurst 
			 22 January 2004 Sheffield Central 
			 22 January 2004 Sheffield, Brightside 
			 23 January 2004 Paisley North 
			 26 January 2004 Knowsley North and Sefton East 
			 26 January 2004 Bootle 
			 4 February 2004 Leicester South 
			 6 February 2004 Falkirk East 
			 12 February 2004 Greenock and Inverclyde 
			 12 February 2004 Ayr 
			 12 February 2004 Hamilton North and Bellshill 
			 20 February 2004 Dumbarton 
			 26 February 2004 Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber 
			 4 March 2004 Newcastle upon Tyne Central 
			 4 March 2004 Glasgow, Baillieston 
			 5 March 2004 Kilmarnock and Loudoun 
			 26 March 2004 Kilmarnock and Loudoun 
		
	
	
		Right hon. Jane Kennedy MP
		
			  Constituencies visited 
		
		
			 21 April 2004 Harrow East 
			 28 April 2004 Derby South 
		
	
	
		Chris Pond MP
		
			  Constituencies visited 
		
		
			 2 December 2003 Lewisham West 
			 4 December 2003 Huddersfield 
			 4 December 2003 Leeds Central 
			 5 December 2003 Falkirk East 
			 13 January 2004 Selby 
			 22 January 2004 Birmingham Ladywood 
			 26 January 2004 Edinburgh North and Leith 
			 21 April 2004 Gravesham 
		
	
	
		Maria Eagle MP
		
			  Constituencies visited 
		
		
			 9 December 2003 Blackpool North and Fleetwood 
			 16 December 2003 Northampton 
			 14 January 2004 Islington North, London 
			 29 January 2004 Stratford, London 
			 12 February 2004 Ealing Acton and Shepherd's Bush, London 
			 16 February 2004 Edinburgh Central 
			 3 March 2004 Coventry North East 
			 29 April 2004 Manchester Central 
		
	
	
		Right hon. Baroness Hollis of Heigham
		
			  Constituencies visited 
		
		
			 1 December 2003 Lichfield 
			 22 March 2004 Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend 
			 26 April 2004 North Southwark and Bermondsey

New Deal

Greg Pope: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many women in Hyndburn have benefited from the New Deal for Lone Parents since its introduction.

Jane Kennedy: 1,060 women have started New Deal for Lone Parents in Hyndburn since the beginning of the programme in October 1998, of whom, 640 have gained a job.

New Deal

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the effects of the New Deal for Young People on jobseeking for those aged 18 to 24.

Jane Kennedy: holding answer 6 July 2004
	The New Deal for Young People has helped more that 490,000 young people into work, including 930 in Coventry South. It has helped virtually to eradicate long-term youth unemployment and also helped reduce youth claimant unemployment to its lowest level for 30 years.
	In Coventry, South the long-term youth unemployment rate has gone down by 68 per cent. since 1997.

New Deal

Helen Southworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in Warrington, South have been helped into work by the New Deal.

Jane Kennedy: The New Deal has been very successful in helping more than a million people into work including 1,390 in the Warrington, South constituency.
	Information on numbers helped into work by each New Deal programme is in the table.
	
		
			 Programme People gaining a job 
		
		
			 New Deal for Young People 760 
			 New Deal 25 plus 250 
			 New Deal for Lone Parents 240 
			 New Deal 50 plus 140 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. All data is to March 2004, except New Deal 50 plus which is to March 2003.
	2. The number of people gaining a job through New Deal for Disabled People and New Deal for Partners is not available at constituency level.
	3. All figures are rounded to the nearest 10.
	Source:
	New Deal Evaluation Database, DWP Information and Analysis Directorate.

Pension Payments

Janet Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when the facility for pensioners to withdraw their pensions by order book is to be withdrawn; and what alternative arrangements will be made for pensioners who do not wish or are unable to switch to direct payment.

Chris Pond: By March 2005 all customers, including pensioners, will have moved from order book to another method of payment. The last pension book foils can be dated no later than 28 February 2005.
	We have always recognised that there will be a small number of people who we cannot pay by direct payment. These people will be moved to cheque payment. Our current plan is for a gradual switchover to cheque payment starting in October 2004 through to the end of February 2005.

Pension Schemes

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will give his Department's estimate of the total Government liability for cases contained in the research into the liabilities for the insolvent pension wind-up Financial Assistance Scheme; and what the estimated total pension shortfall of these cases is.

Malcolm Wicks: The Government are not liable for the losses that people face in their pensions as a result of their pension schemes being wound up underfunded with an insolvent employer. It is not yet possible to give a firm estimate of the full extent of the funding shortfall in such cases, although the 400 million made available by the Government for the Financial Assistance Scheme is expected to provide substantial help to those most affected.

Pension Schemes

David Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will set out the calculations underlying the regulatory impact assessment for the Pensions Bill showing an annual saving of 100 million for business as a result of greater investment flexibility under the statutory funding objective.

Malcolm Wicks: The basis for the estimate that the replacement of the Minimum Funding Requirement could lead to additional investment income of around 100 million a year across all private sector defined benefit pension schemes is set out at paragraphs 4.1.13 to 4.1.15 of the Regulatory Impact Assessment which supports the Pensions Bill.

Private Finance Initiative

Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what steps he is taking to ensure that private finance initiative projects for which his Department is responsible create the minimum of environmental damage;
	(2)  what assessment his Department has made of the (a) sustainability and environmental impacts of private finance initiative projects and (b) capacity of the private finance initiative process to deliver environmentally sustainable projects;
	(3)  what plans he has to make private finance initiative contracts more accountable and transparent in terms of environmental sustainability.

Chris Pond: Under the private finance initiative, the estate of the former DSS was transferred to the private sector in April 1998 for the provision of fully serviced accommodation. Following the formation of the Department for Work and Pensions, the estate of the former Employment Service became subject to the same partnership contract in December 2003. Within the contract, there are specific clauses that cover environmental impacts and encourage the private sector partner to develop environmental improvements. The Department's Estates partner, Land Securities Trillium, whose Environmental Management System is accredited to International Standard ISO 14001, works closely with the DWP corporate Sustainable Development Team to identify opportunities for environmental improvements. The Sustainable Development Team contract manages this element of the partnership and continually assesses performance. Regular partnership meetings are held between the Department and Land Securities Trillium to monitor progress.
	The partnership approach has enabled innovative measures to be developedsuch as the use of spend to save projects designed to improve energy and water efficiency across the estate, and a programme to maximise the recycling of paper waste. Full details of all measures can be found within the annual DWP Sustainable Development Report, to which Land Securities Trillium make a full contribution.
	The current Departmental Approvals process includes sustainable development as an overarching commitment that all change programmes need to incorporate into their plans. This will ensure that any future private finance initiatives include sustainable development issues, as PRIME did successfully from the outset.

State Second Pension

Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will estimate how many employees (a) contracted out of and (b) contracted into the second state pension in 200304, broken down by sex and age; and what information he gives older workers on contracting into the state second pension.

Malcolm Wicks: The Department for Work and Pensions does not specifically provide information to older workers on contracting back into the State Second Pension. It does however publish information leaflets that contain guidance on both State and private pension provision. This guidance stresses how important it is that people regularly review their pension arrangements including decisions about whether to contract in or out, to make sure that they have the income that they need when they retire; and that they should consider taking independent advice if they feel it necessary to do so. Estimates on the number of employees contracted out of and contracted into the State Earnings Related Pension Scheme (SERPS) in 200001 (the latest year for which the information is available) broken down by age and gender, are in the following table.
	
		Thousand
		
			 Age group Number contracted out Number with SERPS membership 
			  Men Women Men Women 
		
		
			 Under 20 30 27 467 372 
			 2029 236 243 1,563 1,302 
			 3039 238 242 901 825 
			 4049 165 171 678 900 
			 5059 105 75 851 742 
			 60 and over 15  247  
		
	
	Note:
	Figures are based on a 1 per cent. sample of the Lifetime Labour Market Database2 and are shown to the nearest thousand.
	Source:
	Department for Work and Pensions' Data Services Unit.

Winter Fuel Payments

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many winter fuel payments have been made in each of the last three years, broken down by region.

Malcolm Wicks: The number of winter fuel payments made in the last three years broken down by region is in the table.
	
		
			  Total for winter 
		
		
			 Region 200102 200203 200304 
			 Great Britain 11,201,900 11,348,045 11,389,335 
			 England 9,585,755 9,709,940 9,745,255 
			 North East 513,460 516,755 516,740 
			 North West 1,336,465 1,349,470 1,354,445 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 982,460 992,680 995,750 
			 East Midlands 831,630 847,435 855,095 
			 West Midlands 1,043,580 1,059,210 1,066,130 
			 East of England 1,090,720 1,110,685 1,119,655 
			 London 1,080,460 1,082,290 1,071,220 
			 South East 1,594,805 1,619,275 1,626,490 
			 South West 1,112,180 1,132,140 1,139,730 
			 Wales 619,720 629,025 632,475 
			 Scotland 996,420 1,009,080 1,011,605 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Numbers are rounded to the nearest 5.
	2. Totals may not sum due to rounding.
	3. Please note that the figures for 200304 refer only to the main payment run so they do not include the late payment run figures. We estimate that there are approximately 100,000 people in Great Britain paid in late payment runs (0.8 per cent. of all payments). Since most of the payments made in late payment runs are to people who are not receiving another benefit from DWP and whose claims had not been received by the qualifying week, most are to men aged 60.
	Source:
	IAD Information Centre, 100 per cent. data.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Iraq

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether the oil output in Iraq was being metered up to the point of the dissolution of the Coalition Provisional Authority.

Bill Rammell: When the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) took office there were no functioning meters in the Iraqi oil system. Successive UK members of the CPA oil team had been pressing for meters to be installed as a matter of urgency, but as of 28 Junewhen the CPA dissolvedthe issue remained outstanding. However, oil exports, either by pipeline to Ceyhan in Turkey or by tanker through the Arabian Gulf, are metered as they pass into the receiving tanks.

Iraq

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much his Department has pledged to women's organisations operating in Iraq; and how much has been distributed since March 2003.

Bill Rammell: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has pledged 100,000 for Women and Youth Good Governance Projects.
	In addition, the FCO has pledged and distributed 30,000 to the Iraqi Refugee Aid Council for a women's project in Sadr city, and 11,000 (US$20,000) for two projects by the Assyrian Women's Union.
	The FCO also supported an Iraqi women's conference, held successfully in Cairo during June.
	The Department for International Development also provides funding for women's projects in Iraq.

Civic Education

Joan Ruddock: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs 
	(1)  what information he has about civic education programmes under way and planned to encourage women to participate in future democratic elections in Iraq; and whether his Department is (a) funding and (b) planning to fund such programmes;
	(2)  what programmes are being developed by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq to promote women's human rights; and whether his Department is giving support in this area.

Bill Rammell: Women's rights in Iraq have been furthered by the creation of a Minister of State for Women's Affairs in the Interim Iraqi Government, and by the passing of an electoral law designed to achieve the goal of one-quarter representation by women in the elected Transitional National Assembly. Six out of 31 Ministers and seven out of 28 Deputy Ministers in the new Interim Iraqi Government are women.
	The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) is working closely with the Department for International Development to promote women's rights in Iraq, and has funded a number of projects involving women and women's groups across Iraq. For a complete list of projects funded by the FCO I refer my hon. Friend to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington (Tom Brake) today (UIN 181081).
	UN support has also come from UNIFEM, which has engaged in numerous projects in Iraq, including workshops and conferences for women.

Chechnya

Mohammad Sarwar: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on recent events in Chechnya.

Bill Rammell: The situation in Chechnya remains of serious concern. The assassination of President Kadyrov in May and the recent attacks in neighbouring Ingushetia further demonstrate the fragility of the security situation there.
	We have unequivocally condemned both attacks in which many innocent civilians were killed. Terrorism and violence are not the way to solve Chechnya's problems.
	We have noted statements by the Russian authorities renewing their commitment to Chechen institutions and reconstruction. The election of a successor to President Kadyrov will be a new opportunity to build up the political process in Chechnya and aid efforts to bring stability to the Republic.

Coca Survey

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the results of the United Nations 2004 coca survey in (a) Colombia, (b) Peru and (c) Bolivia; and what changes have taken place in the location of coca cultivation in each country.

Bill Rammell: The United Nations 2004 coca surveys for Colombia, Peru and Bolivia show that the total area in the three countries that is used for coca production fell by 11 per cent. in 2003 compared to 2002. In Colombia, the area under cultivation is shown to have fallen by 16 per cent. However, it is difficult to judge what impact these falls in the area cultivated may have had on the overall production of cocaine because, as the surveys point out, it is unclear whether crop yields per hectare are rising or falling.
	There has been little change in the location of coca cultivation in Peru. In Colombia, cultivation has fallen markedly in Putumayo and Guivare departments but risen in Narino and Meta departments. In Bolivia cultivation has fallen in the Chapare area but has seen an increase in the Yungas of La Paz.

Constitutional Treaty

John Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which amendments tabled by the (a) Italian and (b) Irish presidencies of the EU to the draft EU Constitutional Treaty represented the UK Government's proposed changes to the Treaty.

Jack Straw: holding answer 29 June 2004
	At the European Council on 18 June, the Government supported the agreement on the amendments to the Convention's draft EU Constitutional Treaty text as set out in documents CIG 81/04 and CIG 85/04 (copies of which have been placed in the Library of the House). All other proposals for amendments made by either the Italian or Irish Presidency during the Intergovermental Conference (IGC) were superseded.
	In total, the annexes cover amendments on 80 different areas in the Treaty. The UK advocated the amendments on 39 of the 80 areas covered. Examples range from criminal law, tax and social security to the provisions on animal welfare and the solidarity clause. These amendments were either initiated by the UK, initiated jointly with other member states, or pushed by other member states and supported by us. Many do not of course fit neatly into just one of these categories. In some areas, we would have liked the amendments to have gone further than those we eventually secured (e.g. team Presidencies or the European Foreign Minister). These were not however UK red lines.
	We remained neutral on 38 areas where others had pushed for amendments which were of no substantive concern to us (although we had initially held reservations on somee.g. social policy).
	In the remaining three areas, we originally opposed the amendments, but we secured changes at the European Council which enabled us to accept them (provisions for member states wanting to adopt the Euro, provisions of the Stability and Growth pact and provisions for the Union's accession to the European Convention on Human Rights).
	A detailed analysis and chart of the changes has been placed in the Library of the House.

Departmental Estate

Colin Breed: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the total floor space was of buildings owned or leased by (a) his Department and (b) its agencies in each year from 1997.

Bill Rammell: The total floor space in Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) buildings occupied by the FCO in each year from 1997 is:
	
		
			  Square metres 
		
		
			 Main FCO Building, King Charles Street 39,000 
			 Old Admiralty Building 13,000 
			 1 Carlton Gardens 2,500 
			 Lancaster House 3,400 
			 Albert Embankment (from 2000 only shared with the Home Office) 1,300 
			 Apollo House, Croydon 3,100 
			 Hanslope Park, Milton Keynes 22,000 
			 Wiston House (Wilton Park Agency) 2,500 
			 Total 86,800 
		
	
	The FCO also previously occupied the following buildings:
	
		
			  Square metres 
		
		
			 1 Palace Street 17,200 
			 20 Victoria Street 1,300 
			 Cromwell House 2,500 
			 1 Cleveland Row 400 
		
	
	These have been-given up following the refurbishment and reoccupation of the Old Admiralty Building in 2001.

Departmental Water Consumption

Colin Breed: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what changes there have been in water consumption by his Department in each year from 1997 to date.

Bill Rammell: Data from financial years 199798 and 199899 could be provided only at disproportionate costs.
	Since 19992000, water consumption in our two London Offices has declined steadily from 12.5 cubic metres per person per year in 19992000 to 8.1 cubic metres per person in 200304.
	Hanslope Park is a mixed use site, which includes light industrial as well as office use, so we would expect higher consumption. It has varied between 26.48 cubic metres per person in 200102 and 44.3 cubic metres per person in 200304. The latter was due in part to a major leak which was difficult to locate but has now been repaired. Consumption has since fallen back.

Employment Tribunals

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many cases against his Department, the agencies for which it is responsible and its predecessor organisations have been brought to employment tribunals in each year since 1997 in relation to (a) equal pay, (b) sex discrimination, (c) race discrimination, (d) disability discrimination and (e) unfair dismissal; how many cost awards were made against (i) respondents and (ii) applicants; and how much has been spent (A) settling and (B) contesting claims.

Mike O'Brien: The information requested is as follows.
	
		Cases brought to employment tribunals
		
			 Tribunal 
			  Equal pay Sex discrimination Race discrimination Disability discrimination Unfair dismissal 
		
		
			 1998  1 1  2 
			 1999   3  1 
			 2000  3 4 2 3 
			 20012 3 
			 2002 1 2   6 
			 2003  1 1  5 
			 2004  2 1   
		
	
	
		
		
			 Costs 
			  Awarded against FCO Awarded against applicants Cases settled Litigation Total cost per year 
		
		
			 1998 0.00 0.00 10,000.00  10,000.00 
			 1999 0.00 0.00 2,000.00  2,000.00 
			 2000 0.00 0.00 13,360.00 26,905.54 40,265.54 
			 2001 0.00 0.00 500.00 107,743.74 108,243.74 
			 2002 0.00 0.00 38,750.00 56,244.05 94,994.05 
			 2003 0.00 0.00 500.00 56,122.71 56,622.71 
			 2004 0.00 0.00 0.00 19,483.71 19,483.71 
		
	
	The information on cases settled prior to 1998 and information on litigation costs prior to 2000 could be provided only at disproportionate costs.

PFI Projects

Colin Breed: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans he has to make private finance initiative contracts for which he is responsible more accountable and transparent in terms of environmental sustainability.

Bill Rammell: Environmental criteria are considered when undertaking private finance initiative (PFI) projects in the same way as they are for other major contracts within the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO). We operate in line with existing guidance on the use of environmental considerations in PFI contracts issued by the Office of Government Commerce, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the Department for Transport and the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister in 2002. The FCO has no current project undergoing procurement using the PFI.

Sustainable Development (Government Estate)

Colin Breed: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps have been taken by his Department to review arrangements for public reporting of sustainable development impacts under the Framework for Sustainable Development on the Government Estate.

Bill Rammell: We reviewed our public reporting of sustainable development impacts when the first part of the Framework for Sustainable Development on the Government Estate was issued in July 2002. We continue to report publicly data against all Sustainable Development in Government targets annually and to respond on our website (www.fco.gov.uk) within four months of targets being published. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) is currently in the process of developing a Sustainable Development Strategy that will outline our sustainable development objectives for the next three years. The performance of the FCO Estate against sustainable development targets will be covered as part of our reporting against this strategy.

Sustainable Development (Government Estate)

Colin Breed: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what arrangements his Department has made to report publicly on key sustainable development impacts pursuant to the Framework for Sustainable Development on the Government Estate.

Bill Rammell: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office reports annually to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on key sustainable development impacts covered by the Framework for Sustainable Development on the Government Estate. This material is made public as part of the Sustainable Development in Government annual report published by the Sustainable Development Unit at Defra. In addition we publicly respond on our website (www.fco.gov.uk) within four months of new Sustainable Development in Government targets being published.

Sustainable Development (Government Estate)

Colin Breed: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what changes there have been in (a) road transport vehicle carbon dioxide emissions and (b) single occupancy car commuting in his Department against the baseline year, as set out in the Framework for Sustainable Development on the Government Estate.

Bill Rammell: We are still in the process of collating 200304 data on our road transport vehicle carbon dioxide emissions. This will be made publicly available in the autumn as part of the Sustainable Development in Government report published by Defra.
	Single occupancy car commuting remains unchanged from the baseline year.

Turkmenistan

Julie Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the United Kingdom's relations with Turkmenistan.

Bill Rammell: The UK's relationship with Turkmenistan covers a number of areas. We continue to run a Chevening Scholarship programme; offer support to public access internet centres, English resource centres and to cultural projects, including the production of a directory aimed at raising international awareness of Turkmen traditions and culture. There are two UK-registered companies operating oilfields in Turkmenistan and we continue to support anti-narcotics measures with an inspection shed on the Afghan border currently nearing completion.
	However, the UK remains seriously concerned at the human rights situation in Turkmenistan. The UK, in conjunction with the EU, US and like-minded partners, continues to pursue a critical dialogue with the Turkmen Government on human rights issues. We welcomed positive recent decrees, including on the registration of religious minorities; the decriminalising of unregistered religious minority activity and we have also welcomed the indication that the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) will have limited access to prisons. However, it is important that these positive intentions are matched by positive actions. We will continue to press for ICRC access to all prisoners, the repeal of restrictive legislation such as criminalisation of non-registered NGO activity, and we will continue to lobby on individual cases.

Turkmenistan

Julie Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Government of Turkmenistan regarding human rights in that country.

Bill Rammell: We remain seriously concerned about human rights in Turkmenistan, including the plight of those convicted following the reported coup attempt in November 2002; the harassment of Turkmen opposition figures in exile; the tight controls over the individual freedoms of all Turkmen citizens; the apparent degradation of the education system; the comprehensive restrictions on freedom of expression; and increased evidence of state-sponsored ethnic discrimination. In their submission to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in Spring 2004, Human Rights Watch described Turkmenistan as one of the most repressive countries in the world.
	The United Kingdom actively supported the tabling and adoption of country resolutions at the 59th and 60th Sessions of the UN Committee on Human Rights (UNCHR) and a further country resolution at the Third Committee of the UN General Assembly. These welcomed the limited positive steps taken by the Turkmen Government but also highlighted the many outstanding areas of concern. We have also lobbied the Turkmen Government on for example, International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC) access to prisoners, reported discrimination against holders of foreign qualifications and religious freedoms as well as individual cases, including Rahim Esenov, a 78-year-old author arrested in February 2004 for allegedly criticising the regime. Mr. Esenov was subsequently released in March.
	Following this sustained international pressure, including from the United Kingdom, there are small indications that the Turkmen Government are willing to engage in dialogue on human rights issues. The Turkmen Government organised in October 2003 a regional conflict prevention forum in Ashgabat under UN auspices. Turkmenistan sent a high level delegation, headed by the Foreign Minister, to Brussels for the EC/Turkmenistan Joint Committee meeting in January 2004. In March the Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights sent a needs assessment mission to Ashgabat to help its preparation of reports to UN Treaty bodies.
	The restrictive recent legislation on exit visas and the criminalisation of non-registered religious minority activity have been repealed; the Baha'is and the Seventh Day Adventists have been able to register as religious minorities and several Jehovah's Witness conscientious objectors, including Kurban Zakirov have been released.
	But much more remains to be done. We will continue to monitor the implementation of recent positive decrees and to push for further progress on human rights issues.